Seamus Heaney Quotes

A collection of quotes by Seamus Heaney.

Seamus Heaney (1939-2013) was an Irish poet, playwright, translator, and educator, widely regarded as one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. He was born on April 13, 1939, in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Heaney grew up on a farm and was deeply influenced by rural life and the natural world, themes often explored in his works.

Heaney achieved international acclaim for his poetry, which captured the spirit of Ireland and dealt with themes of identity, politics, history, and language. His collections, including "Death of a Naturalist" (1966) and "North" (1975), brought him critical acclaim and numerous awards, including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995. He was particularly known for his powerful and evocative use of language.

Apart from his poetry, Heaney also worked as an educator, teaching at various universities including Harvard and Oxford. He was committed to promoting poetry and literature, especially in Ireland, and had a significant influence as a teacher and mentor to aspiring writers.

Seamus Heaney passed away on August 30, 2013, leaving behind a rich and enduring body of work. His poetry continues to be celebrated and studied worldwide for its beauty, insight, and profound exploration of the human experience and the complexities of Irish history and culture.

Poetry is always slightly mysterious, and you wonder what is

Poetry is always slightly mysterious, and you wonder what is your relationship to it.

Call the miracle self-healing: The utter self-revealing doub

Call the miracle self-healing: The utter self-revealing double-take of feeling. If there's fire on the mountain Or lightning and storm And a god speaks from the sky That means someone is hearing the outcry and the birth-cry of new life at its term.

Life Miracles Birth Self

There is risk and truth to yourselves and the world before y

There is risk and truth to yourselves and the world before you.

But that citizen's perception was also at one with the truth

But that citizen's perception was also at one with the truth in recognizing that the very brutality of the means by which the IRA were pursuing change was destructive of the trust upon which new possibilities would have to be based.

Truth Change Trust Perception

A public expectation, it has to be said, not of poetry as su

A public expectation, it has to be said, not of poetry as such but of political positions variously approvable by mutually disapproving groups.

The completely solitary self: that's where poetry comes from

The completely solitary self: that's where poetry comes from, and it gets isolated by crisis, and those crises are often very intimate also.

At home in Ireland, there's a habit of avoidance, an ironica

At home in Ireland, there's a habit of avoidance, an ironical attitude towards the authority figure.

As writers and readers, as sinners and citizens, our realism

As writers and readers, as sinners and citizens, our realism and our aesthetic sense make us wary of crediting the positive note.

In fact, in lyric poetry, truthfulness becomes recognizable

In fact, in lyric poetry, truthfulness becomes recognizable as a ring of truth within the medium itself.

Whether it be a matter of personal relations within a marria

Whether it be a matter of personal relations within a marriage or political initiatives within a peace process, there is no sure-fire do-it-yourself kit.

Manifesting that order of poetry where we can at last grow u

Manifesting that order of poetry where we can at last grow up to that which we stored up as we grew.

The fact of the matter is that the most unexpected and mirac

The fact of the matter is that the most unexpected and miraculous thing in my life was the arrival in it of poetry itself - as a vocation and an elevation almost.

Even if the hopes you started out with are dashed, hope has

Even if the hopes you started out with are dashed, hope has to be maintained.

I credit poetry for making this space-walk possible.

I credit poetry for making this space-walk possible.