Seamus Heaney is a world famous poet widely recognized and known as one of the major and most important poets of the 20th century. He lived and was raised in Northern Ireland, for many years he later lived in Dublin. Having many widely used anthologies edited by him as the author of more than 20 volumes of poetry, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, and taught at Harvard and Oxford University.
Chapter One: Early Life
On April 13, 1939 in Castledawson, County Derry, in Northern Ireland Seamus Heaney was born. He was born as the eldest child of the family to Patrick and Margaret Heaney. He had eight siblings’ six brothers and two sisters, but unfortunately one of his brothers called Christopher, to whom he has dedicated one of his poems, had passed away at the age of four. (www.poetryfoundation.com)(www.biography.com)
When Heaney was eleven he was granted a scholarship from Saint Columb's College in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, so he took it and left his father's farm. As Heaney was growing up, he was introduced to Irish, English, and American literature and exposed to artists such as Patrick Kavanaugh, Robert Frost, and Ted Hughes. …show more content…
Ireland marked the occasion with a 12-hour broadcast of archived Heaney recordings; it was a true event in the poetry world. It was also announced that Heaney’s titles were two-thirds of the poetry collections sold in the UK the previous year. In the world of contemporary poetry such popularity was almost unheard, and yet in tradition Heaney’s voice is unabashedly grounded. Regardless of technological change or economic collapse, Heaney’s belief in the power of art and poetry offers hope in the face of an increasingly uncertain future. In times of crisis, asked about the value of poetry, Heaney answered it is precisely at such moments that people realize they need more to live than economics: “If poetry and the arts do anything, they can fortify your inner life, your inwardness."(Seamus
Chapter One: Early Life
On April 13, 1939 in Castledawson, County Derry, in Northern Ireland Seamus Heaney was born. He was born as the eldest child of the family to Patrick and Margaret Heaney. He had eight siblings’ six brothers and two sisters, but unfortunately one of his brothers called Christopher, to whom he has dedicated one of his poems, had passed away at the age of four. (www.poetryfoundation.com)(www.biography.com)
When Heaney was eleven he was granted a scholarship from Saint Columb's College in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, so he took it and left his father's farm. As Heaney was growing up, he was introduced to Irish, English, and American literature and exposed to artists such as Patrick Kavanaugh, Robert Frost, and Ted Hughes. …show more content…
Ireland marked the occasion with a 12-hour broadcast of archived Heaney recordings; it was a true event in the poetry world. It was also announced that Heaney’s titles were two-thirds of the poetry collections sold in the UK the previous year. In the world of contemporary poetry such popularity was almost unheard, and yet in tradition Heaney’s voice is unabashedly grounded. Regardless of technological change or economic collapse, Heaney’s belief in the power of art and poetry offers hope in the face of an increasingly uncertain future. In times of crisis, asked about the value of poetry, Heaney answered it is precisely at such moments that people realize they need more to live than economics: “If poetry and the arts do anything, they can fortify your inner life, your inwardness."(Seamus