I have previously studied Seamus Heaney’s “Punishment,” and it’s just as riveting now as it was then. I have a passionate love for poetry that focuses on historical events – they are always fascinating, and something that I am drawn to time and again. In the 20th c. Seamus Heaney wrote a series of poems that focused on “bog bodies.” In these poems, he concentrated on the juxtaposition of their murder and morbid beauty, “He probes the vexed relations between lyric song and historical suffering, ‘beauty and atrocity’” (1094). Heaney’s bog poetry represents a facet of poetry not often deeply explored: human suffering and poetic beauty. To read more about the fascinating subject of bog bodies, visit: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/europe-bog-bodies-reveal-secrets-180962770/ In “Punishment” Heaney chooses to focus on a female victim of Iron Age ritualistic sacrifice. This poem is quite morbid, and explores the victim’s physical appearance as well as speculating about her life story, and the betrayal that led to her death. In his speculation, he inserts himself into her story, which serves to make the victim more human – her story more tragic, “I almost love you but would have cast, I know, the stones of silence…I who have stood dumb” (lines 29-31, 37). Modern readers may say, “Yes, I would try to prevent this” or “Yes, I would help her” but, would you? Complacency is a deeply complicated human issue, and further exploration shows that all humans may be subject to it. Perhaps an even more important question to ask is: What happens when murder becomes culture – and what does sanctioned murder say about the human condition? To read more about the history of human sacrifice, visit: https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199759996.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199759996-e-11 Seamus Heaney’s poem is ultimately about the barbarism of earlier cultures, and the pain that one feels when reflecting on such morbid history. But, reflection can lead to positive thoughts. The practice of human sacrifice reminds us that we have come so far in terms of decency, and the way in which humans treat other humans. History can be a fantastic teacher, and Heaney’s “Punishment” is a fantastic lesson.
3 Comments
Hannah Clemmons
6/16/2019 01:54:17 pm
I think u did a great job in analyzing what the poem is saying about human culture, it was a perspective I hadn’t thought of. The memories Heaney brings to life are indeed quite morbid but they show how cruel punishments were in that time period. I enjoy the spin at the end of you analysis, you turned the morbid acts into something to look back on and be amazed at how far we have evolved since then. Well done.
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Chirssy Corcoran
6/16/2019 02:26:51 pm
I loved this piece because I felt that it was so powerful, the way Heaney described the woman as both beautiful and mangled, almost disgusting readers, as looked internally ad admitted that he would've liked to help the woman, but that he stayed silent to protect himself and his own comfort. I think Heaney did an excellent job describing what has always been an issue, and still remains an issue in society today: silence/complacency. I like that your post asks readers whether or not they really would stand up against an atrocity like this. It's a hard question to answer, partially because we don't want to admit that the answer is no. The bystander effect is a real thing and I think that pieces like this help to acknowledge and address it and hopefully encourage people to stand up and not remain silent about issues just because they don't effect them.
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Meghan Lovely
6/16/2019 04:02:34 pm
I too thought that the poem seemed more meaningful because of the way the speaker inserted himself into the narrative while also admitting that they didn’t believe that they would be the noble hero that would have stood against the crowd to save the helpless victim. That sense of brutal honesty just made the tragedy of the death seem more realistic to me.
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