''The Haw Lantern'' (1987) is a collection of poems written by Irish poet
Seamus Heaney
Seamus Justin Heaney (13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish Irish poetry, poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his best-known works is ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966), his first m ...
, the recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995. Several of the poems—including the sonnet cycle "Clearances"—explore themes of mortality and loss inspired by the death of his mother, Margaret Kathleen Heaney (the "M.K.H." referenced in the dedication to "Clearances"), who died in 1984 and of his father two years later.
The title of the collection refers to the
haw fruit. The fruit is an important symbol of defiance against winter, a symbol of, the dignity of the
Northern Irish
The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...
in the face of violence and trouble, and offering a small piece of light and hope in the darkness. The image of the lantern evoked by the title is a reference to the traditional account of the
Greek cynic philosopher
Diogenes of Sinope. According to the story, Diogenes carried a lantern through the streets in search of an honest man in the light.
Contents
* Alphabets
* Terminus
* From the Frontier of Writing
* The Haw Lantern
* The Stone Grinder
* A Daylight Art
* Parable Island
* From the Republic of Conscience
* Hailstones
* Two Quick Notes
* The Stone Verdict
* From the Land of the Unspoken
* A Ship of Death
* The Spoonbait
* In Memoriam: Robert Fitzgerald
* The Old Team
* Clearances: In Memoriam M.K.H.
* Clearances 1
* Clearances 2
* Clearances 3
* Clearances 4
* Clearances 5
* Clearances 6
* Clearances 7
* Clearances 8
* The Milk Factory
* The Summer of Lost Rachel
* The Wishing Tree
* A Postcard from Iceland
* A Peacock's Feather
* Grotus and Coventina
* Holding Course
* The Song of the Bullets
* Wolfe Tone
* A Shooting Script
* From the Canton of Expectation
* The Mud Vision
* The Disappearing Island
* The Riddle
*
See also
* ''
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
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haw Lantern, The
1987 poetry books
Irish poetry collections
Poetry by Seamus Heaney
Faber & Faber books