Just watched a bit of the news about Seamus Heaney's funeral. His son's brief account of the poet's final 'words' - typed, not spoken - was deeply moving, and a reminder of just how much there was to love about the man, aside from his work.
There's a nice tribute already at the New York Review of Books website here and I'm sure we're in for more than a few eloquent ones in the days and weeks and months to come. I doubt if any will match Heaney's own wonderful poems addressed to his departed friends. The one about Joseph Brodsky in Electric Light, Audenesque, springs to mind - it captures so much about Brodsky and Heaney himself.
My tribute, for what it's worth, is very simple. There are few poets capable of overwhelming this reader in simple emotional terms, and Heaney is the one I immediately think of in this regard. I was thinking today of the haunting Limbo, which I believe first appeared in Wintering Out. The last time I tried to read it aloud to someone I almost didn't make it through the final lines. I won't even try today.
2 comments:
Do you recall marking my commentary on 'Death of a Naturalist'? I still have the script.
Sorry for the delayed reply - but I've been trying to remember this one - and struggling. In fact, until you posed the question I don't think I would have remembered ever setting the poem as an exercise for any class.
But then some shards of memory did emerge. So how did you do? Am I right in assuming your answer will be a positive one?
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