Seamus Heaney dies

[TheFifthElement]

Nobel Laureate poet Seamus Heaney has died, aged 74. I was hoping to see him at the Manchester Literature Festival, but sadly it was not to be.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13930435

[MorpheusSandman]

Very, very sad. One of the few, true, genuine masters of the late 20th Century. Of that generation, perhaps only Ashbery, Larkin, Merrill, and Hill rival him in terms of talent and influence.

[Lokasenna]

Very sad (even if I didn't care much for his Beowulf).

[Helga]

I have only read a little of his work but love what I have seen. He was a wonderful poet and will be read for years to come

'Human beings want death to last forever'

[stlukesguild]

Sad. And even more sad in that on a literature site so few seem the least concerned over the death of a poet of such merit. One more example of how ignored poetry has become.



RIP

[Paulclem]

Brilliant poem.

Great poet.

[Charles Darnay]

I discovered him when I picked up his collection of Yeats' poetry, and then I delved into his own work. Truly great stuff.

[Hawkman]

A sad loss indeed, they said. No new thoughts,
thought by such a mind, no new words
in that lilting brogue - just a legacy;
a body of work, that does not fade
as the body of the man decays.
He'll speak yet for longer than
the sum of all my days...

[Jack of Hearts]

Absolutely awful. This reader used to run around with a copy of Human Chain in his backpack. Some of those poems really sang and those lines stuck in Jack of Hearts' noggin for literally years.

For a fun bit of synchronocity, was just re-reading him earlier this week after a year and a half hiatus. And then he dies. How impertinent.

RIP Mr. Heaney, if only there was a god to love either of us.




J

[LitNetIsGreat]

Yes not good, another one lost.

[Lykren]

No more new poems by a great master.
I was talking to somebody the day he died and Heaney came up; my interlocutor asked, isn't he dead? I said no, he's still alive. See! I said, there are still great poets at work in this world.

Then I read the news.



Lokasenna, I just started reading his Beowulf for my early British literature class today; I'm curious, what is it about the translation you didn't like?

[cafolini]

He would not have me mourning. He said that very clearly on several occasions. I am not sad at all about what, like him, knew as inevitable very early in my life. Sad about what?

“Anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things: what's said and what's done.” ~ Seamus Heaney

[Pierre Menard]

Really sad to hear. Probably one of the last of the great 20th century poets too. RIP you fine gentleman.

So we've had one of my favourite actors in Gandolfini die, one of my favourite poets in Heaney die...bloody hell, if I find out Woody Allen dies tomorrow, I might just down a bottle or two of something.

Here is the girl's head like an exhumed gourd.
Oval-faced, prune-skinned, prune-stones for teeth.

They unswaddled the wet fern of her hair
And made an exhibition of its coil,
Let the air at her leathery beauty.
Pash of tallow, perishable treasure:
Her broken nose is dark as a turf clod,
Her eyeholes blank as pools in the old workings.
Diodorus Siculus confessed
His gradual ease with the likes of this:
Murdered, forgotten, nameless, terrible
Beheaded girl, outstaring axe
And beatification, outstaring
What had begun to feel like reverence.

[MorpheusSandman]

Probably one of the last of the great 20th century poets too.

We still have Ashbery and Hill, but it's a steep decline from there.

if I find out Woody Allen dies tomorrow, I might just down a bottle or two of something.

Unlike Heaney, I don't think Allen has made anything really worthwhile in about 20 years. It seems remarkable these days when he releases merely pleasant films like Midnight and Paris, which is a long ways away from masterpieces like Manhattan.

[Pierre Menard]

We still have Ashbery and Hill, but it's a steep decline from there.

Yea, they were the two I had in mind when posting.
I've been reading Hill a lot lately, he's truly a wonderful poet, and I hope he'll release some more stuff before he passes on, as well. I reckon a Hill poetry reading/club on here could be quite good, there's a lot to dive into with his poetry.

Unlike Heaney, I don't think Allen has made anything really worthwhile in about 20 years. It seems remarkable these days when he releases merely pleasant films like Midnight and Paris, which is a long ways away from masterpieces like Manhattan.

Oh absolutely, no disagreement there. Allen was more of a sentimental choice in my post, he's just had a big impact on me personally hence I don't know if my heart could take his death :P