Rating: 
Summary: Acclaim for OPENED GROUND:
Review: "Mr. Heaney has created a remarkable series of poems thatstay "true to the impact of external reality" while at the sametime remaining "sensitive to the inner laws of the poet's being." -Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times"Having just reread most of his poems, I find myself more, not less, interested, and convinced that I have only begun to plumb their bracing depths . . . The poems stay in the mind, which is the one essential feature of major poetry." -Jay Parini, The Nation "Heaney's commitment to the independence of his art, to the pursuit of shape and richness and abundant ambiguity, is also a profound commitment to the quality of public life . . . In a dark time, Heaney . . . has turned borders and dividing lines into rich frontiers." -Fintan O'Toole, The New York Review of Books
Rating: 
Summary: Master of the 'Squat Pen'
Review: Heaney is clearly one of the most important literary figures in the world. He is perhaps even the most important writer from Great Britain since Yeats. It's nice to know that an Irishman who speaks for all citizens of the world has been most deservedly honored with a Nobel Prize. Heaney is a word-smith. For example, "The Forge" is a sonnet that embraces the scope of poetic creativity and power: "All I know is a door into the dark...." Heaney's work is uncompromising and unparalleled in its depth. It can be justly compared to Milosz, or even a Yeats. Heaney is introspective, careful, and most importantly, sincere. Every word on the page counts; every word reverberates and shimmers with life, death, and modest negotations with an often hostile political landscape. His poetic vision is transcendental. This anthology includes Heaney's Nobel Prize Speech: "Crediting Poetry," which is incredibly beautiful and thought-provoking. Some of my favorite poetic images are included here, involving blackberries, frogs, funerals, marital meditations, early morning military manuevers, potato peeling, and a mother ironing.... I highly recommend this anthology. It is beautiful and exciting; Heaney's verse will raise the hair on the back of your neck, as well as electrify your soul.
Rating:
Summary: Master of the 'Squat Pen'
Review: Heaney is clearly one of the most important literary figures in the world. He is perhaps even the most important writer from Great Britain since Yeats. It's nice to know that an Irishman who speaks for all citizens of the world has been most deservedly honored with a Nobel Prize. Heaney is a word-smith. For example, "The Forge" is a sonnet that embraces the scope of poetic creativity and power: "All I know is a door into the dark...." Heaney's work is uncompromising and unparalleled in its depth. It can be justly compared to Milosz, or even a Yeats. Heaney is introspective, careful, and most importantly, sincere. Every word on the page counts; every word reverberates and shimmers with life, death, and modest negotations with an often hostile political landscape. His poetic vision is transcendental. This anthology includes Heaney's Nobel Prize Speech: "Crediting Poetry," which is incredibly beautiful and thought-provoking. Some of my favorite poetic images are included here, involving blackberries, frogs, funerals, marital meditations, early morning military manuevers, potato peeling, and a mother ironing.... I highly recommend this anthology. It is beautiful and exciting; Heaney's verse will raise the hair on the back of your neck, as well as electrify your soul.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Introduction
Review: I came to Heaney's work through his translation of Beowulf. The beuty with which he translated that Anglo-Saxon text prompted me to seek out more of the Nobel laureate's work. What I found in this collection amazed me. My primary area of study is medieval literature and I was pleasantly suprised to find that Heaney's poetry, IMO, offers a curious blend of modern and medieval sensibilities, particularly in the poems from "North". Beyond that, Heaney's poetry conveys the sense of sorrow and pain that permeates the present-day Northern Irish experience. Clearly, this book's greatest asset is that it introduces you much of the poet's work in one sitting. However, I predict that once you read from this book you will go in search of even more of Heaney's beautiful poetry.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Modern Poetry
Review: I came to this book as a part of a class on Irish literature, and I"ve reviewd some other modern Irish literature listed here. Heaney is an intelligent, interesting poet who offers his reader history and politics in beautifully descriptive language. I would recommend this, espeically if you enjoy picking appart poetry and going a step further to find the history behind it.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Modern Poetry
Review: I came to this book as a part of a class on Irish literature, and I"ve reviewd some other modern Irish literature listed here. Heaney is an intelligent, interesting poet who offers his reader history and politics in beautifully descriptive language. I would recommend this, espeically if you enjoy picking appart poetry and going a step further to find the history behind it.
Rating:
Summary: The best one volume edition of Heaney's work!
Review: I have waited several years for a single volume edition of Heaney's poetry-this is it! Contains 150 poems,several prose pieces and concludes with his Nobel Prize acceptance speech 'Crediting Poetry'. An excellent collection.
Rating: 
Summary: tweed peat moss and everything sordid and brown
Review: O Seamus, have you no better way of versifying? truly a mess of intricate disorderings Why is this clown so popular? Must be the neo-Hibernianism that has--um--"taken root" so insidiously at many of our nation's finest institutions. If you like earthy tone poems with telegraphed "wit" go forth and allow Heaney's snarky charm to plant you on your muddy feet. I prefer something more elevated and sly in its design. Yes, yes, he's a major member of the Canon. I don't dispute his Talent. But how anyone warms to this pint-and-a-plow nonsense is beyond me.
Rating:
Summary: tweed peat moss and everything sordid and brown
Review: O Seamus, have you no better way of versifying? truly a mess of intricate disorderings Why is this clown so popular? Must be the neo-Hibernianism that has--um--"taken root" so insidiously at many of our nation's finest institutions. If you like earthy tone poems with telegraphed "wit" go forth and allow Heaney's snarky charm to plant you on your muddy feet. I prefer something more elevated and sly in its design. Yes, yes, he's a major member of the Canon. I don't dispute his Talent. But how anyone warms to this pint-and-a-plow nonsense is beyond me.
Rating:
Summary: Read all of his work..it's worth it
Review: One of the most remarkable things about Seamus Heaney is his "Shadow Gaelic"...or his use of gaelic verse structure and rhyme in the english language. He is a master manipulator of words and he brings the Irish mentality fully into the 20th century. He is both interesting as a poet in its own right and as a figure in Irish literature, his work is moving, compelling and speaks directly to the soul. I highly reccomend any of his work, and this compilation is a nice over-view of the 30 years of his carreer up to the mid-nineties.
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