Word: heaneys
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Ralph Waldo Emerson Poet-in-Residence is one of the most stellar attractions the University counts among its rich wellspring of resources. The 1995 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature doesn’t restrain himself to the poetry for which he won the prize; Heaney counts a definitive translation of Beowulf, over ten collections of radiant verse and several collections of critical essays among his impressively voluminous works...
...Heaney spoke of the connection that a poem read out loud forms between speaker and listener, calling it “the thing that passed between us.” Heaney especially emphasized the oral tradition of memorized “rote” verse, citing what Yeats called “entering the belly of the whale...
...Heaney warned against dependency on the written word, quoting an Egyptian myth to remind his listeners that literacy-—while increasing the potential for wisdom to be stored and passed on through generations—also produces forgetfulness. Because it is possible to read but not understand a text, Heaney claims, the mere visual perception of words can actually disregard much of the wisdom they contain...
...It’s historically a political play,” Heaney says. “In the 1940s, when it was presented in France, it was very well received; the Germans liked it because it was a play about the power of the state, while to the French it was about personal liberty. And in Ireland, the ramifications were especially obvious for its own political situation...
...While Heaney studied historical translations and their political implications in his translation, he also drew upon current events for inspiration. He says he saw clear parallels between President Bush before the Iraq War and Creon, the king of Thebes. Both were authoritative rulers who forced their people to make an absolute moral decision without full understanding of the moral ambiguity of their situation...