Poetry as Refuge and Denunciation: Seamus Heaney and the Civil War of the Soul

Seamus Heaney’s North (1975) is a powerful collection of poems that engages deeply with the political and social turmoil of Northern Ireland during the Troubles. This thesis focuses on the approach of Seamus Heaney to the Troubles in North and in some of his notable poems and how this collection was received by the literary critics of his time. The first chapter focuses on the historical context. The Troubles were a brutal and bloody chapter in Irish history. From 1968 onward, tensions between the Catholic nationalist community, which sought unification with the Republic of Ireland, and the Protestant unionist community, which wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, erupted in violence. This conflict led to deep social divisions, civil rights marches, assassinations and bombings. Seamus Heaney born in County Derry, Northern Ireland, was affected by the Troubles, and North reflects his response to the political division, sectarianism and the subsequent violence that defined the period. Through the analysis of some of Seamus Heaney’s notable poems, the second chapter of this dissertation reflects on the central themes of Heaney’s approach to poetry in relation to the Irish Troubles, such as the concept of violence that from ancient times is repeated in his days, the theme of division both in terms of national identity and personal identity, the combination of the mythological with the contemporary and the role of the poet in a time of crisis. The third chapter focuses on how North was received by the literary critics of Heaney’s time. Heaney’s pomes received several positive reviews when published in 1975, but the chapter delves into critical negative reviews, in particular those of Ciarán Carson and Edna Longley, who respectively accused Heaney of mythologizing the violence of the Troubles and of being insufficiently political towards the conflict. The aim of this thesis is to go beyond the accusations about Heaney's approach to political violence and its aestheticisation and to look at it in a different light. Heaney’s response to the Troubles is complex. While some poets took a more overtly political stance, Heaney was hesitant to position himself as a spokesperson for one side or the other. Instead, his approach in North focuses on the emotional and psychological impact of violence rather than the political specifics of the conflict.