Heaney - Harvest Bow Flashcards
Gist
A nostalgic poem where Heaney depicts memories of his father including his skilled craftsmanship in plaiting a harvest bow
Themes present
Family
Nature
Past/Memory
Gift VS Craft
Sheers poems to compare
Farther
Trees - similar themes of family and nature
Context
Heaney questioning his different choice in lifestyle; his family all stayed as farmers
Older male figure is his father, Patrick
He needs familiarity with the process of Notting harvest both stems from the fact that he would’ve seen these bows being made each autumn as a child.
In the 1996 interview he spoke of his fathers ‘majesty’ and ‘country farmers silence’
Lit Crit
X
Metaphor
X
Personification
X
Sounds of words (alliteration/assonance)
Gentle t’s and assonance - brightens as it tightens twist by twist
Consonance - sticks and cocks (placing emphasis on his fathers natural surroundings to reinforce his rural identity)
Onomatopoeia- whacking
Plosives ‘b’s - bushes, beats, beats
Figurative/symbolic language
Symbolism - Harvest bow is a symbol of loving paternal relationship.
Symbolism - Harvest Bow is a symbol of tradition (decorative knot made from wheat of harvest that is hung on the wall)
Simile - the harvest bow is ‘like a drawn snare’
Simile - finger it like braille
Types of imagery
Natural imagery
Corporeal imagery - fingers moved somnambulant. Finger it like Braille.
Word connotations
X
Mellowed silence - gentler with age, ‘’quietest fatalistic silence’’
Implicated - Heaney’s father doesn’t need to speak explicitly because his skill is presented through his actions
Corona - untouchable; Patrick’s meticulous craftsmanship is untouchable to Heaney
Aged - been in his profession for a long time
Braille - his father works in a physical way so Heaney must read his work in a physical way.
Unsaid off the palpable - Heaney’s work is not palpable whereas Patrick’s is. So he translates his father’s work, the ‘unsaid’
