The Cambridge Companion to Seamus Heaney (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

Seamus Heaney is a unique phenomenon in contemporary literature, as a poet whose individual volumes (such as his Beowulf translation, and individual volumes of poems such as Electric Light and District and Circle) have been high in the bestseller lists for decades. Since winning the Nobel Prize for Literature, he has come to be considered one of the most important English language poets in the world. This Companion gives an up-to-date overview of his career thus far, and of his reception in Ireland, England and around the world. Its distinguished contributors offer detailed readings of all his major publications, in poetry, prose and translation. The essays further explore the central themes of his poetry, his relations with other writers, and his prose writing. Designed for students, this volume will also have much to interest and inform the general reader and admirer of Heaney's unique poetic voice. Cover......Page 1 The Cambridge companion to Seamus Heaney......Page 2 Contents......Page 6 Notes on Contributors......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 11 Note on the Text, and Abbreviations......Page 12 Chronology......Page 14 1 Introduction......Page 20 2 Seamus Heaney’s Working Titles: From ‘Advancements of Learning’ to ‘Midnight Anvil’......Page 38 3 The Context of Heaney’s Reception......Page 56 4 Heaney in Public......Page 75 5 Heaney and the Feminine......Page 92 6 Heaney and Eastern Europe......Page 111 7 Heaney’s Classics and the Bucolic......Page 125 8 Professing Poetry: Heaney as Critic......Page 141 9 Heaney and the Irish Poetic Tradition......Page 155 10 Irish Influence and Confluence in Heaney’s Poetry......Page 169 11 Heaney and Yeats......Page 184 12 Heaney’s Wordsworth and the Poetics of Displacement......Page 197 13 Heaney, Beowulf and the Medieval Literature of the North......Page 211 14 Crediting Marvels: Heaney after 50......Page 225 Guide to Further Reading......Page 243 Index......Page 248 Introduction Heaney's working titles: from Advancement of learning to Midnight anvil / Bernard O'Donoghue The context of Heaney's reception / Rand Brandes Heaney in public / Patrick Crotty Heaney and the feminine / Dennis O'Driscoll Heaney and Eastern Europe / Fran Brearton Heaney's classics and the bucolic / Justin Quinn Professing poetry: Heaney as critic / Bernard O'Donoghue Heaney and the Irish poetic tradition / David Wheatley Irish influence and confluence in Heaney's poetry / Andrew Murphy Heaney and Yeats / Dillon Johnston Heaney's Wordsworth and the poetics of displacement / Neil Corcoran Heaney, Beowulf, and the medieval literature of the North / Guinn Batten Crediting marvels: Heaney after John Wilson Foster / Heather O'Donoghue.