As selected by the author, Opened Ground includes the essential work from Heaney's twelve previous books of poetry, as well as new sequences drawn from two of his landmark translations, The Cure at Troy and Sweeney Astray, and several previously uncollected poems. Heaney's voice is like no other--"by turns mythological and journalistic, rural and sophisticated, reminiscent and impatient, stern and yielding, curt and expansive" (Helen Vendler, The New Yorker)--and this is a one-volume testament to the musicality and precision of that voice. The book closes with Heaney's Nobel Lecture: "Crediting Poetry."
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
At the same time, his Ireland is the site of "neighborly murders," and the past and larger world he confronts is one threatened by history and brutal sectarianism. Heaney has declared, "Fear is the emotion that the muse thrives on. That's always there"--and terror is pervasive in his "land of password, handgrip, wink and nod, / Of open minds as open as a trap." Many of his poems that explore the Troubles reflect his own considerable concern that he has long "confused evasion and artistic tact." Others might be termed self-reflexive, since Heaney uses them to unearth his own role. "Kinship" features a simple, brilliant (not to mention canine!) simile:
I step through originsIn a later poem, "From the Frontier of Writing," he compares the struggle for inspiration to being stopped at a roadblock: "And everything is pure interrogation / until a rifle motions you and you move / with guarded unconcerned acceleration." Heaney's gift is dazzling, and would be almost unbearable were it not matched by vigilance, self-doubt, and regret--and his longing for the day in which "justice can rise up / And hope and history rhyme." --Kerry Fried
like a dog turning
its memories of wilderness
on the kitchen mat.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
US$ 4.25
From Canada to U.S.A.
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Paperback. Publisher overstock, may contain remainder mark on edge. Seller Inventory # 9780374526788B
Book Description Condition: New. . Seller Inventory # 52GZZZ008XEL_ns
Book Description Condition: New. . Seller Inventory # 5AUZZZ000ZN5_ns
Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780374526788
Book Description Condition: New. Brand New. Seller Inventory # 0374526788
Book Description Paperback or Softback. Condition: New. Opened Ground: Selected Poems, 1966-1996 1.18. Book. Seller Inventory # BBS-9780374526788
Book Description Condition: New. Brand New! Not Overstocks or Low Quality Book Club Editions! Direct From the Publisher! We're not a giant, faceless warehouse organization! We're a small town bookstore that loves books and loves it's customers! Buy from Lakeside Books!. Seller Inventory # OTF-S-9780374526788
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 468656-n
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # BKZN9780374526788
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Brand New!. Seller Inventory # 0374526788