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Rating:  - A Triumph of One of the World's Finest Poets
Bearing the richest oeuvre of any Irish poet since Yeats, Heaney's Opened Ground charts a grand and complex course: from the taut, visceral, hyper-sensitive poems of his first few collections, to the gut-gripping political satire of the 'middle period', to the daring, mythical metaphors of the later sequences. With a deep and searing intelligence which seems to invent a new and exciting poetics with every turn of the page, Heaney's voice is one that asks if it can reach into you, instead of forcing its way inside. He speaks horizontally to the reader, rather than down to him, and that quality I admire, especially since much of post-modern poetry seems to ingratiate to a select audience by saying, "Look what I can do!" Heaney's poetry, by contrast, is a gift to everyone.
Rating: - Read all of his work..it's worth it
One of the most remarkable things about Seamus Heaney is his "Shadow Gaelic"...or his use of gaelic verse structure and rhyme in the english language. He is a master manipulator of words and he brings the Irish mentality fully into the 20th century. He is both interesting as a poet in its own right and as a figure in Irish literature, his work is moving, compelling and speaks directly to the soul. I highly reccomend any of his work, and this compilation is a nice over-view of the 30 years of his carreer up to the mid-nineties.
Rating: - Stepping through the bog
Seamus Heaney writes of the Ireland he knows. There are poems of bogs where he digs in with his pen, such as the image of "The Tollund Man" found dead in the bog, or Strange Fruit with "Her eyeholes blank as pools in the old workings". There are Irish scenes of the lough (lakes) and the corncrake. The poems span 30 years, and the British-Irish fighting in the 1970's is reflected in some sad memories. These poems have a universal appeal and in his included Nobel lecture he states, "I have already begun a journey into the wideness of the world". I would agree with one reviewer who notes a medieval tone and there is a certain solemnity: "Read poems as prayers", he states in the longer poem Station Island. You can hear him read some of these poems in the audiotape "Stepping Stones."
Rating:  - tweed peat moss and everything sordid and brown
O Seamus, have you no better way of versifying?
truly a mess of intricate disorderings
Why is this clown so popular? Must be the neo-Hibernianism that has--um--"taken root" so insidiously at many of our nation's finest institutions. If you like earthy tone poems with telegraphed "wit" go forth and allow Heaney's snarky charm to plant you on your muddy feet. I prefer something more elevated and sly in its design.
Yes, yes, he's a major member of the Canon. I don't dispute his Talent. But how anyone warms to this pint-and-a-plow nonsense is beyond me.
Rating: - Master of the 'Squat Pen'
Heaney is clearly one of the most important literary figures in the world. He is perhaps even the most important writer from Great Britain since Yeats. It's nice to know that an Irishman who speaks for all citizens of the world has been most deservedly honored with a Nobel Prize.
Heaney is a word-smith. For example, "The Forge" is a sonnet that embraces the scope of poetic creativity and power: "All I know is a door into the dark...."
Heaney's work is uncompromising and unparalleled in its depth. It can be justly compared to Milosz, or even a Yeats. Heaney is introspective, careful, and most importantly, sincere. Every word on the page counts; every word reverberates and shimmers with life, death, and modest negotations with an often hostile political landscape. His poetic vision is transcendental.
This anthology includes Heaney's Nobel Prize Speech: "Crediting Poetry," which is incredibly beautiful and thought-provoking. Some of my favorite poetic images are included here, involving blackberries, frogs, funerals, marital meditations, early morning military manuevers, potato peeling, and a mother ironing....
I highly recommend this anthology. It is beautiful and exciting; Heaney's verse will raise the hair on the back of your neck, as well as electrify your soul.
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