Question: Much of the poetry of Seamus Heaney has as its focus the subject of the 'Irish Troubles', (the enmity between Ireland and England) but also explores the various aspects and problems of human experience. Discuss with close reference to at least two poems.
             Seamus Heaney was born in April 1939 and grew up the eldest member of a family of eleven. He was a country boy and as a result a vast majority of his poetry touches upon country life and it is not until his later works that Heaney focuses particularly on the 'Irish Troubles.' Heaney spent many years living in Belfast and later in the Irish Republic and it is here that he came to experience the 'Irish Troubles' firsthand and as a result it can be seen in his poetry his exploration of not only the 'Irish Troubles' but also the human experience. In his body of work "North," in particular the poems "Punishment" and "Funeral Rights," Heaney makes a connection with the past to highlight the 'troubles' of the present as well as the connection between mythology and logic. Heaney makes this connection between 'mythos' and 'logos' and the past and the present in order to highlight his personal thoughts and emotions in reference to the problems within Ireland at the time and also the various aspects and problems of human experience. Furthermore Heaney's use of strong language and powerful imagery, combined with his use of particular structural techniques, assists in enabling him to explore and depict to the reader the 'Irish Troubles' and various aspects and problems of the human experience via the connections between past and present and mythology and logic.
             Within the poem "Funeral Rights" the passage of time from past to present is represented through the movement of the three sections of the poem and this movement serves to connect the past and...