110 likes | 753 Vues
The Barn. This poem, like Death of a Naturalist, is a memory of the past. It is about Heaney's experience of working in a barn when he was much younger. Heaney uses vivid similes and imagery to bring the barn to life. It has an almost supernatural feel and, by the end of the final stanza, a real sense of dread and danger..
E N D
3. Subject and Themes Farm life
Danger
Fear
Imagination
Vulnerability
Nightmares childhood fears
9. Links with other poems Most obviously links with Death of a Naturalist as both poems deal with Heaneys fear of nature and the ways in which the ordinary can become threatening or evil. The sacks of corn move in like great blind rats just as the frogs become great slime kingsgathered for vengeance. We get the sense from all of Heaneys poems in the anthology (except for Mid-Term Break, perhaps) that the childhood experiences of agriculture were not happy times for him or he was unable to fit in with them.
10. Hints and Tips This is a reasonably easy poem to understand and has a number of key images and techniques that you can write about. Unfortunately, it does not link very easily with most of the other poems, although Death of a Naturalist would certainly be a good one.
You could also link it to the idea of memories which is also depicted in Miracle on St. Davids Day, Follower, Digging, Mid-Term Break, At Grass, An Unknown Girl and Once Upon A Time.
11. Example Questions Look again at the poems The Barn and Death of a Naturalist. What do these poems reveal about the imaginations of the childhood Heaney?
The Barn is a poem about memory. Choose another poem from the anthology which also focuses on memory and compare the ways in which they are depicted.