Not 'Digging' (the only poem Heaney's father ever wrote)

Poetry Original Works - Post Your Poems
1

Thon boy of ours is one useless hoor.
A heap of turf still to be cut and he’s
leaning against the fence with his two
arms the one length, wanting to know
if his grandfather thinks the sound is
more of a squelch or slap. That wee
shite’s on his last warning. Winter’ll
soon be coming and the fire’ll need to
be burning, and if not sods of peat, it’ll be
his dreamy Joyce and precious Keats.

​

  • Irish slang definitions:

“Thon” - that

“Hoor” has a complex history in Irish English. It can be used affectionately or pejoratively, and the specific meaning depends on the context and the speaker’s tone.

“two arms the one length” - a lazy person

3 Likes
2

Hi Niall

I like the squelch/slap question, being occupied by the sound of the task. Was the chopping of the lines to reflect the peat cutting?

Phil

3

Well cratfed Niall, I was right there sitting on the fence smoking a pipe watching it all go down.

4

Good man Tom, thank you!

5

Thanks Phil. Nope, sometimes I just let the poem find its own shape. Does the breaks hinder it for you?

6

No, Niall. I understand that such breaks can give an expectation and fluidity to the next line. There is a viewpoint that the end word on a line is a prime position to give emphasis for verbs/nouns rather than less important words. There is a viewpoint that enjambment flows better without the sense of lines being snapped off; that the continuation to the next line can be a creative surprise rather an obvious run-on with a sort of false drama. Personally, I don’t have an issue with either approach.

Cheers

Phil

7

Very effective, Niall, as I’ve always admired Seamus Heaney’s poems, this was a treat…the ending falls so well. Seamus’s son, well, I can understand him very well. I like “thon” it seems a compilation of that and yonder. Loved it, Niall.

8

Tightly crafted, I thought Niall. The voice comes across as authentic.