Jumping Forth:
An Analysis of Seamus Heaney ‘s Poem “ Personal Helicon ”
Seamus Heaney ‘s rubric pick for his verse form “ Personal Helicon ” is rooted in ancient Grecian mythology. Helicon is the name of a mountain in Greece. “ In Greek mythology, two springs sacred to the Muses were located here: the Aganippe and the Hippocrene. “ ( Mount ) The Muses are goddesses of inspiration and the beginning of cognition. Mt. Helicon is besides where the fabrication of Narcissus takes topographic point. Where Narcissus falls so in love with himself, and becomes so heartsick when he realizes that he can non hold the object of his ain desire, he takes his ain life at the side of a spring. Narcissus and the other elements ascribed to Mt. Helicon are to a great extent used in his verse form to assist the reader grasp the significances behind the quatrains. While reading it is of import to retrieve the fabrications of Mt. Helicon, that the springs on the mountain were the beginning of inspiration itself. Thus the rubric of the verse form must be specifically pulling analogues between the mountains springs and his beginnings of inspiration while a kid. Unlike the unchanging mountain, Heaney ‘s inspiration undergoes a paradigm displacement has as he grows older. One of the voices in this verse form goes over the patterned advance of this alteration, and tells the narrative about his inspirations.
“ Personal Helicon ” is dedicated to another poet, a coeval of Seamus ‘ , Michael Longley from Belfast. It is ill-defined if Michael is the inspiration for the creative activity of this verse form, but the two had worked together for some clip during their callings. Before Seamus ‘ calling, he was given birth to, and grew up on a farm in Northern Ireland. If the verse form is taken literally, one can presume a good figure of springs were present around his household ‘s farm. As such it comes as no surprise that they are a strong reoccurring subject of his childhood, and verse form.
The verse form is five quatrains based around 10 syllables in a 1,2,1,2 and 3,4,3,4 riming strategy. There are besides a figure of assonant effects:
“ [ E? ] pumps/ pails ; fungus/ pail plummeted [ E’ ] drop/ moss ; hovered/ bottom [ E™ES ] rope/ so/ no ; [ E? ] in/ brickyard/ rich ; big-eyed Narcissus/ inyo/ spring/ is/ self-respect ; [ u ] new/ music ; [ eE™ ] scaresome/ at that place ; [ ai ] rhyme/ myself ; ” ( Fawbert )
and interweaves:
“ [ E? ] [ A¦ ] : dry ditch fructified like/ fish tank ; same combination of sounds [ E? ] [ A¦ ] creates a chiasmal consequence: crowbar into/ finger sludge ; ” ( Fawbert )
In this verse form, he with such elegance explains the universe to himself, and himself to the reader. It is no admiration he is considered one of the greatest life poets. Probably he was compelled by others every bit much as himself to revisit his journey of going poet. And of class this can merely be done through verse form. Using Wellss and springs as a manner of personal contemplation and apprehension of the natural universe, Seamus begins the reader at his childhood.
Seamus uses simplistic linguistic communication and monstrous imagination to convey Forth from the reader a sense of childhood. He is filled with wonder and naivete. In the first line it becomes established that Wellss are a beginning captivation for him. Wells handily are a symbol of life. Here is found the effectual beginning of his, this new passion for what he lives for. These unusual room accesss to belowground universes held untold enigmas which were resistless to the immature kid. As so were the devices that brought forth the enigmas from the deepnesss of these universes. The “ old pumps with pails and winchs ” divinely attached devices that could traverse the head covering between universes, may every bit good have been immense visible radiation up neon marks. Sirens who ‘s waving call could non be resisted. It is astonishing he survived childhood. Small Seamus could n’t assist himself though, he
“ loved the dark bead, the at bay sky, the odors
of waterweed, fungus and dank moss. ”
Not merely full of synthesia, this spot is merely synthesia. It pulls anyone who has of all time been outside right back at that place. It invites the reader to see the odors non of decay, but of the beginning of life. It asks the reader to peer into the darkness and the unknown. In this still aboriginal scene, the image of a immature kid gazing into the darkness comes easy. He stares into the unknown and wonders how it got at that place, imploring the reader to come explore with him. What are the beginnings of this life here in the well? How can the sky, something so large, acquire a spot of itself trapped in the well? And what other admirations lay hidden in the darkness? Let us turn the winchs, and draw up the pail. The empirical grounds brought Forth will light us all, but replies will merely be had after repeated consequences.
Seamus brings us to another well, and another phase of his life. Here he is older and wiser. Danger is get downing to go evident to him. In this well he brings us to, he explicitly notes that there is “ a decayed board top. ” The thirst for cognition appears slated now. Here freshness and amusement is the chief draw. Not much to make on a farm, he spends clip enjoying
“ the rich clang when a pail
Plummeted down at the terminal of a rope. ”
The well here is “ so deep you saw no contemplation in it. ” Probably because it is full of fables, and non H2O. The well is deep, but like all things it may be a symbol for, be it life, inspiration, or cognition, there is an terminal. There is a bottom to everything, and Seamus is get downing to acquire near to the terminal. However there is still darkness, and in the darkness there are yet things for him to larn. And from the description of the pail, the difficult sounds, the violent action, these things will be learned the difficult manner.
Onto another well, and another phase of life. Heaney ‘s 3rd quatrain brings us to “ a shallow one under a dry rock. ” This well, though drying up is still teaming with life. If the deepness of the well is taken his degree ignorance about the universe around him, so at this point there is non much left. He describes himself as dragging “ out long roots from the soft mulch, ” where he discovers “ a white face hovered over the underside. ” This transitions him from larning about the universe, to larning about himself. He no longer equals into the darkness or endorse up into the sky, the universe is no longer reflected, and his clip for self-contemplation Begins.
Rootss are often a symbol of household and traditions. Here before he can look at himself, he must unclutter them off. His making so can be considered an act of taking social imposts and traditions. To be able to see who he is, to allow the individual underneath come out and play, to experiment in being.
Described in playful ways, Seamus negotiations about his self-exploration and experimentations in being by depicting his activities with even more Wellss. Using reverberations he calls into the Wellss to listening to the mutants. This is a direct analogue for his imaginativeness. Playing out “ what if ” scenarios in his head to see how the alterations play out. At least until he received a fear.
When while peering deep into his contemplation one twenty-four hours, “ a rat slapped across my [ his ] contemplation ” and scared him. It distorted his image into something disfigured and atrocious. As Nietzsche one time said “ when you gaze long into an abysm the abysm besides gazes into you. “ ( Nietzsche, 146 ) Assuming his staring into his contemplation is him taking an introverted expression at things, so the rat is merely a convenient device used to explicate how he found something inside himself that was upseting. As is frequently the instance, one ‘s conceptualisation of themselves is non what one truly is. When the difference is great, or goes against one ‘s ain moral or societal values it can be scaring. This clip, it seems to hold been so freighting as to set him off of it wholly.
No longer does he gaze into Wellss. Seamus looks down upon researching the admirations of the universe. “ pry [ ing ] into the roots, to thumb sludge ” is disqualifying the adult male he has become. He considers looking into himself straight narcissistic. Having grown into an grownup other affairs have taken precedency. His childhood activities are now “ beneath all grownup self-respect, ” and he must happen options. Summed up in the last, and arguably his best line we find redemption. “ I rhyme to see myself, to put the darkness echoing. ” The reverberation in the darkness much like the reverberation in the Wellss, we find the act of poesy has taken the topographic point of staring into Wellss. And we find him one time once more being able to populate.
