Analysis Of The Poem Follower By Seamus Heaney

Isabella Gonzalez

Ms. Rowe

IB English

15 January 2016 Father and Son Ever since children are young growing up and becoming an adult is something that children cannot wait for while it is something their parents dread. Seamus Heaney published his poem Follower in 1966 in his book Death of a Naturalist. Follower mostly takes place in the past where Heaney viewed his father as role model and wanted to be like him. Heaney was his father's shadow, but as time progressed his father then in turn became his follower and his shadow. Heaney published another poem titled The Harvest Bow in 1979. In The Harvest Bow Heaney talks about his memories of his father plating and making a bow out of wheat, something he did very often

In Heaney's poems imagery is very important in trying to get the reader to understand the poem itself. In The Harvest Bow Seamus Heaney uses a lot of golden and or shining imagery. The use of golden imagery gives a sense of importance and a sense of status within Heaney and his father Patrick. “But it brightens as it tightens twist by twist/Into a knowable corone/A throwaway love-knot of straw”. In Spanish corona means crown and crowns are usually worn by royalty, using the word corona can exemplify the feelings of highness, respect and love Heaney has toward his father. Furthermore, when Jesus died on the cross he was wearing a crown of thorns, since Heaney was grew up in a religious household and since this poem is a proleptic elegy, him including the death of Jesus Christ can symbolize that he was come to terms with the inevitable death of his

There is only one certain thing in life and it is death, and that is something that human beings have to come to terms with. Heaney's use of imagery, especially in The Harvest Bow let the reader interpret what he was trying to communicate which was he had come to terms with the death of his father. Seamus Heaney's word choice was also a very important aspect in grasping the theme of the cycle of life, words like Corona and Nuisance in two different poems gave an understanding of where he stood when writing the poems. Lastly, progression was very important because it gives a timeline of sentiments and an inside look on how the poet feels about a certain topic and in this case was the cycle of life or more specifically