Poems, 1965-1975: Death of a Naturalist / Door Into the Dark / Wintering Out / North [Paperback]

Seamus Heaney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1988

This volume gathers nearly all of the poems from Heaney's first four collections: Death of a Naturalist (1966), Door into the Dark (1969), Wintering Out (1972), and North (1975).

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Heaney is keyed and pitched unlike any significant poet now at work in the language, anywhere."--Harold Bloom, The Times Literary Supplement

"In 1938, not a moment too soon, W. B. Yeats abmonished his colleagues: 'Irish poets, learn your trade.' Seamus Heaney, born the following year, has learned his trade so well that it is now a second nature wonderfully responsive to his first."--Denis Donoghue, The New York Times Book Review (front page)

"His is the most striking talent to come out of Ireland since that of the late Patrick Kavanagh."--Stephen Spender

"Heaney has all the primary gifts of a poet, and they are gifts put at the service of a constant meditation on primary themes, on nature and history and moral choice."--John Gross, The New York Times

About the Author

Seamus Heaney was born in 1939 in Northern Ireland. His award-winning books of poetry include The Haw Lantern (FSG, 1987), Seeing Things (FSG, 1991), and The Spirit Level (FSG, 1996). A resident of Dublin, he has taught at Oxford and Harvard.

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Noonday Press (October 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374516529
• ISBN-13: 978-0374516529
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #173,765 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!, March 6, 2008

By 

Stacy Pulliam (US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Poems, 1965-1975: Death of a Naturalist / Door Into the Dark / Wintering Out / North (Paperback)

Just a good read. As you would expect from Seamus Heaney. You can carry this book but Heaney can carry you. I strongly suggest this book to anyone interested in Irish poets/writers. I suggest this book for anyone interested in BOOKS!His imagery is deeper than most poets'. In the States _in school- we read Robert Frost and all that bunk. But Heaney's work is something completely different and even a bit unexpected at times. I love it.What else can I say?

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark and wet but good, June 9, 2002

By 

D. P. Birkett (Suffern, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Poems, 1965-1975: Death of a Naturalist / Door Into the Dark / Wintering Out / North (Paperback)

Images of water and earth. often combined as mud or bogs, dominate these poems. Almost every one contains the words "dark" or "black." Many of them are memories of agricultural operations that sound so primitive (ploughing with horses, churning by hand) that I was not sure if they were genuine. (But should that make a difference? What if we learned that Seamus Heaney was born and raised in Manhattan? ). They are written in the colloquial style of the British "Movement" Some of them contain subtle rhymes and rhythms but some, such at the relatively cheerful "Churning Day" could just as well, or even better, be printed as chunks of prose. There is very little politics but it is evident that he writes as a Northern Itish Catholic.
It's the only book-length Heany I've read so I don't know how representative the selection is. It contains poems from "Death of a Naturalist," "Door Into the Dark." "Wintering Out," "A Northern Hoard," "North" and "Singing School."