''Wintering Out'' (1972) is a poetry collection by

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

, who received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Importance of Place

California/Liberation

The volume contains poems written between 1969 and 1971. Heaney wrote much of the collection while he was on sabbatical at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, in 1971. Heaney has said that his time in California had a liberating effect on the form of his poetry: "In the poems of ''Wintering Out'', in the little quatrain shapes, there are signs of that loosening, the California spirit, a more relaxed movement to the verse." Heaney writes explicitly about California in the poem "Westering."

Ireland

While the poems in ''Wintering Out'' are more formally open, they also demonstrate Heaney's intensifying commitment to rooting his poetry in the Irish landscape. Throughout the collection, Heaney uses linguistic cues and place names to develop a sense of community and forge a connection with the Irish past. Poems like "Toome," "Broagh," and "Anahorish" are rich with allusions to Irish language and topography, while "Shore Woman" and "Maighdean Mara" draw on Irish folklore and proverbs. Heaney explained the importance of the Irish landscape in ''Wintering Out'' during an interview with literary critic

Seamus Deane Seamus Francis Deane (9 February 194012 May 2021) was an Irish poet, novelist, critic, and intellectual historian. He was noted for his debut novel, ''Reading in the Dark'', which won several literary awards and was nominated for the Booker Pri ...

. Deane asked Heaney if he intended to create a "cultural landscape" with his poetry, and if Heaney insists "that this landscape be distinctly of this culture." Heaney responded: "Yes I think I came to this notion in the writing of the ''Wintering Out'' collection, particularly in the place name poems: 'Anahorish', 'Broagh', and so on. I had a great sense of release as they were being written, a joy and devil-may-careness, and that convinced me that one could be faithful to the nature of the English language ... and, at the same time, be faithful to one's own non-English origin ..." This quote shows that a sense of "place" was very important to Heaney in the formation of ''Wintering Out''. As Heaney said, the place name poems were his mode for rooting the collection in Ireland, acknowledging his own origins, even while doing so in the English language.

Bogs

''Wintering Out'' also contains one of Heaney's most important bog poems. In "Tollund Man," Heaney builds upon the image of the bog that he introduces in '' Door into the Dark's'' "Bogland." Heaney was deeply moved by

P.V. Glob Peter Vilhelm Glob (20 February 1911 – 20 July 1985), also known as P. V. Glob, was a Danish archaeologist. Glob was most noted for his investigations of Denmark's bog bodies such as the Tollund Man and Grauballe Man, mummified remains of Iron ...

's study of the mummified

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

bodies found in

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

's peat bogs. Bogs were a familiar feature of the Northern Irish landscape and Heaney found contemporary political relevance in the relics of the ritualistic killings.

Politics

In ''Wintering Out,'' Heaney grapples with the place of politics in his poetry. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the sectarian violence of

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

was on the rise. Heaney felt pressure to act as a spokesperson for the Catholic minority of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. He moved from Belfast to County Wicklow in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

shortly after the publication of ''Wintering Out''. In ''

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

'', Heaney's next and most controversial volume, he returns to the bog bodies with more explicitly political poems. Some critics, such as Eavan Boland of the Irish Times, applauded Heaney for his engagement with "mature" political themes. However, others expressed disappointment that Heaney did not do more to address the Troubles head on. The tension around how the poet wrote about the Troubles would continue to be of interest in the critical reception of following volumes like ''North'' published in 1975, and are the subject of several interviews with the poet himself such as Heaney's 1977 interview with Seamus Dean "Unhappy and at Home". Heaney has been recorded reading this collection on the ''

Seamus Heaney Collected Poems ''Collected Poems'' is a spoken-word recording of the Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney reading his own work. It was released by RTÉ to mark his 70th birthday, which occurred on 13 April 2009. The fifteen-CD box set, boxed set * * * * ...

''.

* For David Hammond and Michael Longley * Fodder * Bog Oak * Anahorish * Servant Boy * The Last Mummer * Land * Gifts of Rain * Toome * Broagh * Oracle * The Backward Look * Traditions * A New Song * The Other Side * The Wool Trade * Linen Town * A Northern Hoard 1. Roots * A Northern Hoard 2. No Man's Land * A Northern Hoard 3. Stump * A Northern Hoard 4. No Sanctuary * A Northern Hoard 5. Tinder * Midnight * The Tollund man * Nerthus * Cairn-maker * Navvy * Veteran's Dream * Augury * Wedding Day * Mother of the Groom * Summer Home * Serenades * Somnambulist * A Winter's Tale * Shore Woman * Maighdean Mara * Limbo * Bye-Child * Good-night * First Calf * May * Fireside * Dawn * Travel * Westering

External links