Death Of A Field Poem Analysis

We all have our own personal memories that are unique to each and every one of us. Memory is often a prevalent theme in poetry, and is seen strongly in the poems of Seamus Heaney and Paula Meehan. In the case of Heaney, his book of poetry Human Chain would be, unfortunately his last, thus understandably the past and his own private memories are recurring in these poems. His poems have a unique ability to unite his special memories with mutually shared histories of others, in an effort to unite us through his poetry. With topics like the transition from a young child leaving home in ‘The Conway Stewart’, there is something we can all identify with. Similarly, Paula Meehan’s poetry also shows how memory can unite our pasts and not just be a personal …show more content…
In this poem, the narrator is thinking back to a time when the space behind her house was a field, filled with the buzzing life of nature. Unfortunately, the memory of the field is lost, as the ‘notice goes up, Fingal County Council – 44 houses’ (line 2) Meehan’s memory of this may seem to be a very personal experience, however it is easy to see how relatable it is for many of us. This poem distinctly unites us to see an important issue of today, the exploitation of the world’s resources, and how we are on the brink of extinction. More and more of nature is being cut down, taken away due to our endless greed for more industrialisation. She imagines the final time she’ll be walking out onto the field, and personalises the nature, giving it a voice to show it importance; ‘the myriad leaf lives green and singing’(line 32). She raises this issue even further with her technique of personification, the fact that we need to listen to nature to understand it, and to realise its importance over our greed. Her techniques of describing her personal memory in this poem tied us all in to not just a national, but a worldwide