In particular, have a good look at the last photograph, of the "Windeby girl" (who it turns out is a boy, but that is of little consequence). This is the body that inspired "Punishment." It's one of Heaney's most controversial poems. In the 1970s, several Catholic women in Northern Ireland were abused--their heads shaven, their faces tarred--for fraternizing with British soldiers. Heaney yokes this history with the body pulled from the German bog. This is controversial enough, but the real controversy comes from the way Heaney sexualizes the experience, and from the way he seems to understand the atrocities on an intimate level. We can talk more about these things in class, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on this or any of the other poems by Heaney.
It's tragic, really, that we are only discussing one poem by Eavan Boland. She is one of my favorite poets (That's not why it is tragic, of course). If you would like to write about "The Pomegranate," I'd be pleased to read what you have to say. And if you want to study Heaney or Boland (or Yeats, or Joyce, or any of the other Irish writers we've seen glimpses of this semester) in greater depth, there's always my Modern Irish course, 486R. :)
Bog it Like it’s Hot
ReplyDeleteI liked Heaney’s poem about “Punishment” especially after we discussed it in class and I found out the background of the poem. It was very interesting to me how these ancient bodies were preserved in the bogs… kinda like an iceman, or fossils, or a mosquito trapped in amber and then used to create dinosaurs to repopulate on a secluded island. I can see how the poem was/is controversial to people as far as sexualizing the body of the woman who was thrown into the bog. But to me, it makes the victim seem more like a real person and “humanizes” her so that the reader can connect in some way. Also, we were talking in class about action, or rather inaction, as being something just as bad as committing the crime itself. I’m a wimp. I’ll admit it. So I’m sure if I were in situation like that, I’d probably not speak up for the poor victim. I’d probably just watch while she was tortured to death. But then again, you never know what coulda/woulda/shoulda happened. You can’t really say unless you’re there, you can only speculate.
The Skank
ReplyDeleteFor some reason when I read the poem, The Skunk, I thought the poem had hints of adultery in it. The skunk who visited this man’s room while he was away from his wife could’ve literally been a skunk, but I took it more as another woman who the man was sleeping with in his lonesomeness. This reading would still make sense because in this situation, life definitely would stink… for all involved: main character, wife, and the skank/skunk. In this sense, the poem wouldn’t really be funny at all, but have more of a somber tone to it. I don’t know why I thought the poem was about adultery, but it makes sense to me.
Larkin is Sparkin’ Interest…
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I haven’t really connected with very many authors we’ve read this semester. Larkin is the first poet I actually genuinely enjoyed. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a cynic and a pessimist, but that could be part of why I enjoyed him so much. To me, Larkin’s poetry is like a breath of fresh air compared to the other author’s we’ve read, not necessarily because of all the profanity he used, but because the topics he chose to write about are real. He’s not ashamed to tell it how he sees it. In a way, it reminds me of the rapper, Eminem. The obscenity in a way gives him his own style and makes him who he is. “This Be the Verse”, even though we didn’t read it for class, I believe had a lot of truth to it. I enjoyed “Church Going” because it had a deep meaning to it, in a non-traditional way. I can see Larkin’s poetry as being “Modern” because it really makes the reader look issues straight in the face and not allow them to avert their eyes.