How does seamus heaney use the pastoral form/techniques in his poetry?
Heaney handles the dilemma of an artist in a tumultuous society: pastoral poetry, in Heaney’s hands, has been essentially modernized, refurbishing its traditional capacity to proffer trenchant social and cultural criticism while honoring the aesthetic demands of the art. Sidney Burris Blackberry-Picking, Follower,Digging, Bogland, Death of a Naturalist —These poems of Seamus heanie are examples of his Pastoral poetry. Seamus Heaney was born on April 13, 1939 into a Catholic family with a farming background. Their fifty acre farm, named Mossbawn, was located in County Derry, Northern Ireland. The first of nine children, it was anticipated that Seamus might follow in his father’s footsteps as a farmer and cattle dealer. But though he graduated in literature, in his poetry he combines language and his pastoral background. His poetry shows a powerful devotion to the earth, particularly to the landscape and soil of his native Northern Ireland. But Heaney is equally dedicated to language.
