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A review by franfernandezarce
Electric Light: Poems by Seamus Heaney
4.0
were we not made for summer, shade and coolness
and gazing through an open door at sunlight?
for paradise lost? is that what i was taught?
first poetry collection of year and what a solid start. heaney's "station island" was among my best books of last year (considering the amount of his collections i pick by year, it was statistically probable) and although "electric light" doesn't quite left the same impression (nor similar to my impressions on "death of naturalist," my favourite by heaney so far) it makes a considerable effort.
divided into two parts, the first one deals with almost a semi-classical, poetical take on nature and travel writing, with some greek and latin translations thrown in the mix as well. which is what you would expect from the author. the second part is a glorification of heaney's literary friends, family and other acquaintances. although both parts might strike a different tone from one another, they felt like equal complementary companions to each other's tone and themes.
our very music, our one consolation
here's a selection of the poems i enjoyed the most (links when found):
x "lupins" link
x "red, white and blue"
x "ten glosses" link
x "on his work in the english tongue"
x "audenesque" link
and gazing through an open door at sunlight?
for paradise lost? is that what i was taught?
first poetry collection of year and what a solid start. heaney's "station island" was among my best books of last year (considering the amount of his collections i pick by year, it was statistically probable) and although "electric light" doesn't quite left the same impression (nor similar to my impressions on "death of naturalist," my favourite by heaney so far) it makes a considerable effort.
divided into two parts, the first one deals with almost a semi-classical, poetical take on nature and travel writing, with some greek and latin translations thrown in the mix as well. which is what you would expect from the author. the second part is a glorification of heaney's literary friends, family and other acquaintances. although both parts might strike a different tone from one another, they felt like equal complementary companions to each other's tone and themes.
our very music, our one consolation
here's a selection of the poems i enjoyed the most (links when found):
x "lupins" link
x "red, white and blue"
x "ten glosses" link
x "on his work in the english tongue"
x "audenesque" link