Seamus Heaney was, for good or ill, internationally the most prominent and the most popular Irish poet of the latter part of the twentieth century and the first part of the twenty-first. His work is judged, and often considered superior to, that of a presumed super-league of poets in English from formerly colonised countries, a super-league including the West Indian Derek Walcott and the Australian Les Murray. Heaney’s predominance is “for good or ill” in the sense that he proved a more criticised figure in Ireland than was the case beyond. The consistently pastoral focus of his work, for instance (work which is often centred upon the rural community and landscape of Mossbawn in Co. Derry where he was brought up), is seen to be out of kilter with life in modern Ireland, north or…
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Citation: Matthews, Steven. "Seamus Heaney". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 September 2002; last revised 28 July 2023. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2054, accessed 22 November 2024.]
