Heaney - The Grauballe Man PDF

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Summary

Analysis and interpretation of the poem The Grauballe man. The notes were used for exam preparation....

Description

Seamus Heaney – The Grauballe Man

Analysis 

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Explores bog bodies o Iron Age bodies that have been preserved for hundreds of years, due to the natural chemicals in bogs o The bog as a memory bank – preserves everything thrown into it Images o Similes:  Line 1: ‘as if he had been poured’  ‘is like bog oak’  ‘like a basalt egg’ o Metaphors:  Line 3: ‘on a pillow of turf’  Line 5: ‘…to weep the black river of himself’ – self as a river o Creates vividly descriptive pictures of the body Form o Enjambment  A lot of it throughout the entire poem  Gives it a halting rhythm – a sense of solemnity that reflects the morbid subject

Interpretation 

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Explores the relationship between poetry and dead bodies o Illustrates the objects’ capacity for artistic inspiration o The complicated transaction that takes place when an author chooses to create a poem about objects like this The fate of the Grauballe man linked to contemporary events in Ireland o Political violence – Bloody Sunday o A certain number of the bog bodies – ritual sacrifices to Mother Goddess o A parallel to the number of Irish people who have died and sacrificed their lives for the mother country...