the skunk

Question 1

he’s missing his wife and for the first time in eleven years

Answer 1

•he’s writing her love letters
•usually, he wouldn’t have to if living at home

Question 2

seems strange to him to write the word ‘wife’ and

Answer 2

•he compares the word to a cask of wine that has been stored away but now is about to be opened and savoured

Question 3

what is the image of wine representative of

Answer 3

•this is an image of their marriage: something self contained and precious
•he focuses on the word ‘wife’ itself- its strangeness highlighted by inverted commas around it, and reflects on the sound of it, like he’s never really heard it before

Question 4

what does the beautiful eucalyptus tree remind him of

Answer 4

•reminds him of his wife, as does the aftertaste of wine

Question 5

the euphony in “beautiful, useless / Tang of eucalyptus” reflects what

Answer 5

•both the loveliness of the trees scent and the poets wife’s loveliness

Question 6

he remembers inhaling his wife’s scent

Answer 6

•”off a cold pillow”
•the word “cold” evoking a sense of loss and emptiness

Question 7

as heaney sits at his desk each night looking out the window, he’s aware of what

Answer 7

•the silence of the house
•the intermittent noises the fridge makes seem unusually loud, like the whinny of a horse

Question 8

heaney use of “refrigerator” rather than “fridge” emphasizes what

Answer 8

•the american usage emphasizes how far from home heaney is
•he’s in a place where even the ordinary appears strange and exotic to him

Question 9

the only light is that on his desk, and it illuminates what

Answer 9

•the veranda and orange trees outside
•the language in the poem is intensely sensual, as befits the theme

Question 10

the visual imagery is particularly striking because

Answer 10

•the harsh glow of the lamp light is softer by the time it reaches the veranda, and the oranges take on a dramatic aspect looming in the tree
•this sense of drama is heightened by the arrival of the skunk, parading around in all its glamorous mystery

Question 11

the skunk appears when

Answer 11

•each evening “snuffing” around the veranda
•the word “snuffing” is part of the ordinariness of the skunk

Question 12

the skunks showy tail is so much in evidence that

Answer 12

• it appears to lead the skunk
•”the skunk’s tail / Paraded the skunk”

Question 13

the tail appears “damasked”, which simply means

Answer 13

•shiny and patterned

Question 14

what does the skunks tail remind heaney of

Answer 14

•the vestment a priest would wear at a funeral mass
•this reference to church links the skunk to the sacred and mysterious

Question 15

skunk is confident as it walks around garden, intent on

Answer 15

•it’s own business and unaware of or uninterested in the poet

Question 16

to an irishman like heaney, what is this skunk like

Answer 16

•it’s quite an exotic and “glamorous” creature, although it would be a common sight in california

Question 17

the contradictory or paradoxical language here shows

Answer 17

•how to heaney, commonplace has taken on special meaning for him.
•it also epitomizes a lasting marriage in that it must be both ordinary and mysterious for it to survive

Question 18

on a practical level, people become familiar with one another and go about their everyday lives together, but

Answer 18

•they must also retain a sense is mythology and mystery that are a part of romantic and sexual love

Question 19

the nightly ritual of the skunks appearance leads to

Answer 19

•the poet becoming tense and excited as he wonders if she’ll appear tonight

Question 20

he says that the thrill he gets from watching the skunk is almost like

Answer 20

•the thrill a voyeur would experience as he secretly watched a woman

Question 21

this tension and excitement along with his admiration of

Answer 21

•the skunk beauty and confidence makes heaney long for his wife
•this feeling is exacerbated by his loneliness and sexual frustration

Question 22

last stanza returns us to heaney present.

Answer 22

•he’s back home, some years after his stay in california
•he and his wife are getting ready for bed & he heard the sensual,gentle “sootfall” of her clothes as she undresses

Question 23

the word “sootfall” is

Answer 23

•an evocative one
•he’s “stirred” by this and she bends down to get her nightdress from the bottom drawer,he’s reminded of the skunk “snuffing” around the veranda
•the sexual tension he felt then is linked to his arousal now

Question 24

worth taking note of the word “sootfall”

Answer 24

•like the skunk, it seems a strange image to connect to a loved one and to sexual desire
•soot is dirty, yet heaney is aroused or “stirred” by the sound

Question 25

one critic said that if we think about it practically, clothes taken off at the end of the day

Answer 25

•and let fall to the floor are dirty too, and henry’s reaction is part of the ‘ordinary mysteriousness’ of marriage

Question 26

or heaney could’ve used the word “sootfall” to

Answer 26

•continue the link to the colour black (skunk, chasuble, soot, nightdress)

Question 27

poem ends on happy note

Answer 27

•from the “cold pillow” of his time alone in california and the funeral image of the priests chasuble, we move to the shared marriage bed at home in ireland

Question 28

the black chasuble is replaced by

Answer 28

•the black “plunge-line” nightdress
•the poet longed for his wife at the beginning, and longs for her now
•this time, the longing is more like anticipation, though, as she is about to join him in bed

Question 29

theme of love and marriage

Answer 29

•shows how couple can retain their love & desire for each other even after eleven years of marriage

Question 30

heaney deeply misses his wife during his time in california and

Answer 30

•is reminded of her by sensual pleasures such as the scent of the eucalyptus or taste of wine

Question 31

the separation forces heaney to

Answer 31

•look at his relationship anew and he’s once again like a besotted suitor, charming the object of his affections with carefully written love letters

Question 32

poem is also a celebration of

Answer 32

•the erotic love that exists in marriage
•at end of poem, heaney is “stirred” by the mere sound of his wife’s clothes falling to the floor, even though they’ve been together for many years

Question 33

theme of memory

Answer 33

•shows just how intense and powerful memory can be

Question 34

at start, heaney remembers his wife when he

Answer 34

•tastes wine, smells eucalyptus, and even when he finds himself anticipating the nightly visit of the skunk

Question 35

back in ireland, his wife reminds him of

Answer 35

•the skunk by her “tail-up” search for her nightdress in a bottom drawer, and this in turn reminds him of how much he missed her & longed for her during his stay in america