Opened Ground : Selected Poems, 1966-1996

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.

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.

Rating:
Summary: The best living English-language poet
Review: Opened Ground is an excellent introduction to Heaney's poetry, taking the reader from his earliest expressions of anxiety over his chosen profession ("Digging" and "Poem") to his love for his native Ireland ("Annahorish" and "Broagh") and his anxiety over the political fate of his country ("Casualty" and "The Toome Road") to reflections on mortality in general (and therefore, naturally, on his own) ("An Afterwards" and "Squarings"). Of course, to claim that any of his poems are "about" any one thing is to perform an almost unpardonable act of reductionism -- they all take in a great breadth and depth of experiences and wisdom. While it is true that "An Afterwards" is in some sense about death, it is equally about poetry and the Faustian bargain poets sometimes must make, leaving family behind in the pursuit of beauty. This anxiety, too, recurrs throughout Heaney's work. To anyone who is even remotely interested in modern poetry, this is a great introduction to a great poet, and it belongs on your shelf.

Rating:
Summary: Heaney's Natural, Witty, Brilliant Poems In One Volume.
Review: Seamus Heaney is a master poet who connects nature, emotion, and even plot, in a brilliant and particularly Irish poetry. These poems are accessible to non-English majors. I read them out loud to my wife at night. They elicit a reaction that begins at emotional imagery, veers into thought, and ends up touching your soul. One of the immortal greats of the English language is writing and publishing now, and this book is indispensable.

Rating:
Summary: Heaney's Natural, Witty, Brilliant Poems In One Volume.
Review: Seamus Heaney is a master poet who connects nature, emotion, and even plot, in a brilliant and particularly Irish poetry. These poems are accessible to non-English majors. I read them out loud to my wife at night. They elicit a reaction that begins at emotional imagery, veers into thought, and ends up touching your soul. One of the immortal greats of the English language is writing and publishing now, and this book is indispensable.

Rating:
Summary: Stepping through the bog
Review: Seamus Heaney writes of the Ireland he knows. There are poems of bogs where he digs in with his pen, such as the image of "The Tollund Man" found dead in the bog, or Strange Fruit with "Her eyeholes blank as pools in the old workings". There are Irish scenes of the lough (lakes) and the corncrake. The poems span 30 years, and the British-Irish fighting in the 1970's is reflected in some sad memories. These poems have a universal appeal and in his included Nobel lecture he states, "I have already begun a journey into the wideness of the world". I would agree with one reviewer who notes a medieval tone and there is a certain solemnity: "Read poems as prayers", he states in the longer poem Station Island. You can hear him read some of these poems in the audiotape "Stepping Stones."

Rating:
Summary: Stepping through the bog
Review: Seamus Heaney writes of the Ireland he knows. There are poems of bogs where he digs in with his pen, such as the image of "The Tollund Man" found dead in the bog, or Strange Fruit with "Her eyeholes blank as pools in the old workings". There are Irish scenes of the lough (lakes) and the corncrake. The poems span 30 years, and the British-Irish fighting in the 1970's is reflected in some sad memories. These poems have a universal appeal and in his included Nobel lecture he states, "I have already begun a journey into the wideness of the world". I would agree with one reviewer who notes a medieval tone and there is a certain solemnity: "Read poems as prayers", he states in the longer poem Station Island. You can hear him read some of these poems in the audiotape "Stepping Stones."

Rating:
Summary: Stepping through the bog
Review: Seamus Heaney writes of the Ireland he knows. There are poems of bogs where he digs in with his pen, such as the image of "The Tollund Man" found dead in the bog, or Strange Fruit with "Her eyeholes blank as pools in the old workings". There are Irish scenes of the lough (lakes) and the corncrake. The poems span 30 years, and the British-Irish fighting in the 1970's is reflected in some sad memories. These poems have a universal appeal and in his included Nobel lecture he states, "I have already begun a journey into the wideness of the world". I would agree with one reviewer who notes a medieval tone and there is a certain solemnity: "Read poems as prayers", he states in the longer poem Station Island. You can hear him read some of these poems in the audiotape "Stepping Stones."

Rating:
Summary: A Tongue of Decades
Review: Seamus Heaney's collection _Opened_Ground_ is a rambling jaunt through 30 years of his best-loved works. Many well-known poems are found throughout along with several soon-to-be favorites. This volume also contains his Nobel lecture, "Crediting Poetry," a must read for poets, poetry-lovers, or the just plain literate. Seamus Heaney is a poet of universal voice and local concern.

Rating:
Summary: A Tongue of Decades
Review: Seamus Heaney's collection _Opened_Ground_ is a rambling jaunt through 30 years of his best-loved works. Many well-known poems are found throughout along with several soon-to-be favorites. This volume also contains his Nobel lecture, "Crediting Poetry," a must read for poets, poetry-lovers, or the just plain literate. Seamus Heaney is a poet of universal voice and local concern.