North: Poems [Paperback]

Seamus Heaney (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 057110813X | ISBN-13: 978-0571108138 | Publication Date: January 1, 1985

With this collection, first published in 1975, Heaney located a myth which allowed him to articulate a vision of Ireland--its people, history, and landscape--and which gave his poems direction, cohesion, and cumulative power. In North, the Irish experience is refracted through images drawn from different parts of the Northern European experience, and the idea of the north allows the poet to contemplate the violence on his home ground in relation to memories of the Scandinavian and English invasions which have marked Irish history so indelibly.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Heaney's] awareness of a wider social world . . . reaches its culmination in North (1975), a deservedly famous volume that [Helen] Vendler regards as 'one of the crucial poetic interventions of the 20th century,' ranking with Eliot's Prufrock, Wallace Stevens' Harmonium, and Frost's North of Boston in 'its key role in the history of modern poetry.'" --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

About the Author

Seamus Heaney received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995. His most recent translations are Beowulf and Diary of One Who Vanished. His most recent collection of poems is Opened Ground.

Product Details

• Paperback: 73 pages
• Publisher: Faber & Faber (January 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 057110813X
• ISBN-13: 978-0571108138
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mystic poems from the Celtic-Nordic Axis, May 3, 2000

By 

John M "jpmcad" (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: North (Hardcover)

These poems connect the twenty first century reader with the Celtic past of Ireland, in a unique way: through the experience of the marauding Vikings. Wonderful poems with a mythic edge. Heaney is fantastic.

Fans of Heaney's Beowulf translation will find a great introduction to his work here in this accessible group of poems.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Poems, April 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: North: [poems] (Hardcover)

I don't know much about poetry, but as a fan of Irish culture, I decided to pick up this small collection. I was moved by the images. Heaney brought the past alive. I could picture the Vikings coming up the Shannon and storming Clen McNois and other monastries. Definately recommended!