Abstract
Seamus Heaney’s final poem has been published just over a year after his death. Finished ten days before he died aged 74 in August 2013, the poem is a mediation on a painting of a canal by the French artist Gustave Caillebotte.
It appears in a volume collated by The National Gallery of Ireland, who commissioned writers to respond to paintings displayed on their walls.
Many more people will have read this poem than would otherwise. It is now not just a poem by Heaney about a canal, but a quasi-mythological “last poem”. This new identity also changes how we actually read the poem. It doesn’t make it better or worse, or affect its “worth”, but it does influence the way in which the poem can be read and understood.
It appears in a volume collated by The National Gallery of Ireland, who commissioned writers to respond to paintings displayed on their walls.
Many more people will have read this poem than would otherwise. It is now not just a poem by Heaney about a canal, but a quasi-mythological “last poem”. This new identity also changes how we actually read the poem. It doesn’t make it better or worse, or affect its “worth”, but it does influence the way in which the poem can be read and understood.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Specialist publication | The Conversation |
| Publication status | Published - 6 Oct 2014 |
Keywords
- Seamus Heaney
- Poetry