Seamus Heaney

3 units

By the time Seamus Heaney was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995, he had already built a reputation as one of the foremost poets of his generation, a leading figure in twentieth- and early twenty-first century verse, widely seen as the true successor to W. B. Yeats as the national bard of Ireland. This course examines the arc of his literary career, working our way chronologically through the poetry, exploring texts in conjunction with their contexts, seeking a deeper understanding of form and meaning through close reading and scholarly engagement with a full range of his writing. Readings include poems from the volumes Death of a Naturalist, Wintering out, Door Into the Dark, North, Station Island, Seeing Things, The Spirit Level, Human Chain, and others.