What is the message of the poem Follower?
“Follower” tracks the way that the relationship between parents and their children changes over time. The speaker begins the poem with deep admiration and respect for his father, contrasting his father’s exceptional farming skills with his own stumbling ineptitude as he follows behind.
What is the theme of the story the Follower?
“Follower” is about the loss of tradition. In fact, the main theme of Heaney’s poetic career is the sense of loss that accompanies moving away from tradition. His poems often focus on the details of his family life in his childhood before his personal break with tradition.
What is the form of Follower by Seamus Heaney?
The poem is structured into quatrainsof four lines, ordered in an ABAB rhyming scheme. However, each stanza contains one perfectrhyme and one slantrhyme, where the lines almost rhyme but don’t quite. For example: I wanted to grow up and plough, To close one eye, stiffen my arm.
What language is used in Follower?
Follower is a straightforward lyrical poem and is an excellent example of Heaney’s use of rural language within a controlled syntax that is full of long and short vowels, contrasting consonants and varied rhythms.
Why did Simon Armitage write mother any distance?
He reflects on the distance between them and how he feels about his connection to his mother. He considers whether he will succeed on this next step in his life, or whether he will fail. In 2019, Armitage became the new Poet Laureate, following Carol Ann Duffy in the post.
What is the extended metaphor in Follower?
However, the real subject of the poem is the mystery of the creative process – writing poetry is like ‘a door into the dark’. The work of the forge serves, therefore, as an extended metaphor for the creative work and craftsmanship of poetry.
Why does the boy want to close one eye and stiffen his arm?
He wanted “to close one eye” as he focused on the detailed parts of farming life. Besides, he wanted to “stiffen [his] arm” as he went behind the plow. To summarize, he wants to emulate his father perfectly, plowing just as he did with one of his eyes closed, and a stiff arm.
What is the meaning of the poem digging by Seamus Heaney?
“Digging” explores the relationship between three generations: the speaker, his father, and the speaker’s grandfather. The speaker lives a very different life to his forebears—he’s a writer, whereas his father and grandfather were farmers.
What is a polished sod?
He also mentions that sometimes he falls on the “polished sod”—not very helpful, young man. Here’s hoping his dad is an understanding guy. (The description of “polished” here suggests that the dirt is smooth and shiny where it’s been cut by the plow.)
What are the themes in mother any distance?
KEY THEMES INDEPENDENCE, AGING, SENSE OF PLACE, FREEDOM, CHILDHOOD RELATIONSHIP MOTHER / CHILD | FAMILIAL LOVE MATERNAL, PARENTAL www.pmt.education Page 3 Mother Any Distance Like a few of the other poems in the anthology, Armitage isn’t very specific in his time or setting with the poem ‘Mother Any Distance’ – and …
What does hobnailed Wake mean?
His ‘hobnailed’ wake is the sight of the soles of his father’s boots studded with nails which makes them last longer.
What is the meaning of follower by Seamus Heaney?
The volume is understood to be a largely autobiographical meditation on Heaney’s childhood in County Derry, Northern Ireland. Like Heaney, the speaker in “Follower” is a farmer’s son who finds beauty and value in traditional farming practices but struggles to take them up himself.
How was Seamus Heaney influenced by the example of his father?
He did not know exactly how his life would be influenced by the example of his father until he was old enough to look back on his life. ‘Follower’ by Seamus Heaney is a retrospective piece that describes how the poet used to go plowing with his father in his childhood days.
What did Seamus Heaney observe on the field?
Being the first of nine children in his family, he was close to his father, Patrick Heaney who was a farmer. When he used to go a-plowing, his eldest son, Seamus followed him to his land. What the poet observed on the field, he wrote in this poem. This poem not only contains the scenic description of the plot, rather it is about his father.
When did Seamus Heaney write death of a naturalist?
This is from Heaney’s first collection, Death of a Naturalist (1966). The collection, which depicted his Irish rural upbringing was very successful, and remains in print… Read More Between the shafts and the furrow. The horses strained at his clicking tongue. An expert. He would set the wing And fit the bright-pointed sock.