The early purges - Seamus Heaney

Question 1

What is the structure of this poem?

Answer 1

7 stanzas of 7 terrets, free verse and a narrative structure.

Question 2

Who is the first person speaker in this poem?

Answer 2

Heaney when he was young.

Question 3

What is the tone of this poem?

Answer 3

Calloused, matter-of-fact, pragmatic and reflective.

Question 4

What is the mood oof this poem?

Answer 4

Disturbing, sombre and unsettling.

Question 5

What diction can be extracted from lines 1-6?

Answer 5

Oitchedm Expletives, metal sound, scraping, soused and slung.

Question 6

What diction can be extracted from lines 7-12?

Answer 6

Sluiced, dunghill, dead, frightened, sady, sogged, mealy and dung.

Question 7

What diction can be extracted from lines 13-18?

Answer 7

Fear, snared, sickening, shrill, drowning and bloody.

Question 8

Overall, what does the diction in this poem convey?

Answer 8

The harshness of the act of farm killin and the loss of innonce.

Question 9

What themes can be seen throughout the poem?

Answer 9

Death, harshness, innonce and the loss of innocence, power and control, the life cycle and death.

Question 10

What is the message of this poem?

Answer 10

To convey how harsh farm-life is, it highlights the lack of sentimentality and the transformation of a horrified child to a desensitised adult through the acceptance and exposure to death.

Question 11

Why does Heaney make use of enjambment?

Answer 11

To represent a sense of fluidity and reflection on the continuous and cyclical nature of life and death.

Question 12

What does the use of vivid imagery and direct language in this poem convey?

Answer 12

It forces the reader to confront the brutality of farm practices, just as he had to when he was a child.

Question 13

Throughout the poem the harsh shock of the beggining wears off by the end. What does this implore the readerthe reader to think?

Answer 13

It leads the reader to understand the farmers reasons. It also allows the reader to understand Heaneys desensitization by mirroring it.

Question 14

What is the intention of this poem?

Answer 14

To evoke strong emotions within the reader as well as serving as a commentary on a childs sensitivity and the loss of innocence.

Question 15

What is the political relevance of the poem?

Answer 15

Set in Northern Ireland in a time of political conflict called ‘the troubles’.

Question 16

In a political context what might the kittens represent?

Answer 16

Vulnerale people caught in larger political struggles

Question 17

In a political context what does violence and acceptance represent in the poem?

Answer 17

Represents the violence Heaney witnessed in his homeland.

Question 18

In a political context, what does Heaneys acceptance of farm-life brutality represent?

Answer 18

The desensitisation that occurs in conflict zones.

Question 19

In a non- political contaxt what doo the kittens represent?

Answer 19

Innonce, vulnreability and lifes fleeting nature.

Question 20

What does the kittens drowning represent?

Answer 20

The harsh realities of farm life.

Question 21

What other themes can be seen throughout the poem?

Answer 21

Morality and the complexities of childhood experiences.