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7.4
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(52
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I was six when I first saw kittens drown.
Dan Taggart pitched them, 'the scraggy wee shits',
Into a bucket; a frail metal sound,
Soft paws scraping like mad. But their tiny din
Was soon soused. They were slung on the snout
Of the pump and the water pumped in.
'Sure, isn't it better for them now?' Dan said.
Like wet gloves they bobbed and shone till he sluiced
Them out on the dunghill, glossy and dead.
Suddenly frightened, for days I sadly hung
Round the yard, watching the three sogged remains
Turn mealy and crisp as old summer dung
Until I forgot them. But the fear came back
When Dan trapped big rats, snared rabbits, shot crows
Or, with a sickening tug, pulled old hens' necks.
Still, living displaces false sentiments
And now, when shrill pups are prodded to drown
I just shrug, 'Bloody pups'. It makes sense:
'Prevention of cruelty' talk cuts ice in town
Where they consider death unnatural
But on well-run farms pests have to be kept down.
Seamus Heaney
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Read poems about / on: summer, water, fear, death, running
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Comments about this poem (The Early Purges
by
Seamus Heaney
) |
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comments about this poem (The Early Purges by
Seamus Heaney
)
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Jim Mccabe
(4/13/2009 4:04:00 PM) |
I had this poem for my A Levels in 1973. It always stayed with me. Cruel but part of nature. It scared me but I understood why these things happened.
Jim
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Johnny Muir
(6/17/2008 8:21:00 AM) |
Hi, I work for the BBC in Belfast and am working on a documentary to mark Seamus Heaney's 70th birthday. His work is studied (and written about in exams) by people all over the world and I am trying to find out what impact it has them. In this poem he writes about events in his childhood in Co Derry - yet it clearly has a resonance today. I would love to hear anyone's comments on what Heaney's poetry means to them. Tell me about individual poems that have made an impact on you and why!
Cheers,
johnny.muir@bbc.co.uk
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Niamh Kearney
(4/15/2006 8:16:00 AM) |
This poem is very realistic and current for those living in Ireland. I love it! It is very useable for exams because of all its literary techniques
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Freya Sheldon
(1/26/2006 4:27:00 AM) |
This poem reminds me of Dan Bruce reading it in the School Raeding Competition. Stolzie, if you're reading this, you'll know what I mean by 'heart-wrenching'. By the way, KBO! ! !
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