Join Amazon Prime and ship Two-Day for free and Overnight for $3.99. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
48 used & new from $0.99

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Government of the Tongue: Selected Prose, 1978-1987
 
 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get yours here.
 
  

The Government of the Tongue: Selected Prose, 1978-1987 (Paperback)

by Seamus Heaney (Author) "In 1939, the year that Patrick Kavanagh arrived in Dublin, an aunt of mine planted a chestnut in a jam jar..." (more)
Key Phrases: Sylvia Plath, Czeslaw Milosz, Nadezhda Mandelstam (more...)
No customer reviews yet. Be the first.

List Price: $18.00
Price: $18.00 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Wednesday, July 15? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
21 new from $7.84 26 used from $0.99 1 collectible from $34.85
Also Available in: List Price: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (First American edition) 25 used & new from $6.86

Frequently Bought Together

The Government of the Tongue: Selected Prose, 1978-1987 + The Redress of Poetry + Finders Keepers: Selected Prose 1971-2001
Price For All Three: $49.65

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: The Government of the Tongue: Selected Prose, 1978-1987 by Seamus Heaney

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • The Redress of Poetry by Seamus Heaney

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Finders Keepers: Selected Prose 1971-2001 by Seamus Heaney

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Preoccupations: Selected Prose, 1968-1978

Preoccupations: Selected Prose, 1968-1978

by Seamus Heaney
$19.00
Finders Keepers: Selected Prose 1971-2001

Finders Keepers: Selected Prose 1971-2001

by Seamus Heaney
3.5 out of 5 stars (2)  $12.75
Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney

Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney

by Dennis O'Driscoll
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  $23.36
Opened Ground: Selected Poems, 1966-1996

Opened Ground: Selected Poems, 1966-1996

by Seamus Heaney
4.8 out of 5 stars (18)  $11.56
District and Circle: Poems

District and Circle: Poems

by Seamus Heaney
4.5 out of 5 stars (6)  $11.90
Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The 20th century saw the emergence of the poet as witnessvoicing solidarity with the doomed, the victimized, the dispossessed. Irish poet Heaney here gauges this trend in essays on Wilfred Owen, Osip Mandelstam, Zbigniew Herbert. He admits that the power of the poem to change the world is almost nil. Then, turning to T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land, he affirms the healing value of poetry as its own vindicating force, restoring us to our true selves. Interrelated essays investigate the ways in which W. H. Auden, Robert Lowell and Sylvia Plath each became an "antenna," getting beyond the ego to voice the spiritual yearnings and anxieties of our time. Heaney has a fine ear for Derek Walcott's lush Caribbean verse, which he calls "a common resource," and for "the wire-sculpture economy" of Miroslaw Holub's games of knowledge. Beautifully written, these essays and reviews reconfirm poets as unacknowledged legislators of the world.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"The 20th century saw the emergence of the poet as witnessvoicing solidarity with the doomed, the victimized, the dispossessed. Irish poet Heaney here gauges this trend in essays on Wilfred Owen, Osip Mandelstam, Zbigniew Herbert. He admits that the power of the poem to change the world is almost nil. Then, turning to T. S. Eliot's 'The Waste Land', he affirms the healing value of poetry as its own vindicating force, restoring us to our true selves. Interrelated essays investigate the ways in which W. H. Auden, Robert Lowell and Sylvia Plath each became an 'antenna,' getting beyond the ego to voice the spiritual yearnings and anxieties of our time. Heaney has a fine ear for Derek Walcott's lush Caribbean verse, which he calls 'a common resource,' and for 'the wire-sculpture economy' of Miroslaw Holub's games of knowledge. Beautifully written, these essays and reviews reconfirm poets as unacknowledged legislators of the world."—Publishers Weekly
-- Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details


Inside This Book (learn more)



Books on Related Topics (learn more)
 
Death's Door by Sandra M. Gilbert
 

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Government of the Tongue: Selected Prose, 1978-1987
84% buy the item featured on this page:
The Government of the Tongue: Selected Prose, 1978-1987
$18.00
Finders Keepers: Selected Prose 1971-2001
16% buy
Finders Keepers: Selected Prose 1971-2001 3.5 out of 5 stars (2)
$12.75

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below.

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search
No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Reviews


There are no customer reviews yet.   Create your own review
Video reviews
Video reviews
New feature! Amazon now allows customers to upload product video reviews. Use a webcam or video camera to record and upload reviews to Amazon.



Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   


Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)


Look for Similar Items by Category


Don't Eat the Biscuits

Shop for biscuit joiners
With a biscuit joiner you can create joints in a fraction of the time it takes using more traditional woodworking techniques.

Shop for biscuit joiners

 

Big Savings in Books

Bargain Books
Find great titles at fantastic prices in our Bargain Books Store.
 

Cut Wood Down to Size

Cut Wood Down to Size

Split wood with ease using a log splitter from the Outdoor Power & Lawn Equipment Store.

Shop all log splitters

 

Best Books

Best of the Month
See our editors' picks and more of the best new books on our Best of the Month page.
 

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Where's My Stuff?

Shipping & Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue shopping: Top Sellers
Paranoia
Paranoia by Joseph Finder
My Soul to Lose
My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent
Glenn Beck's Common Sense
Glenn Beck's Common Sense

Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates