Since there aren't many poems in Seamus Heaney's 1979 collection Field Work that I wanted to share here, I've done something a bit different this time:

The first poem I share is "The Strand at Lough Beg," from Field Work, and the second is part 8 from Heaney's sequence Station Island, from 1984. "The Strand at Lough Beg" is dedicated to Heaney's second cousin, Colum McCartney, who was murdered in 1975 by Protestant sectarians; the poem from Station Island allows that same cousin to scold Heaney for making his death, almost, into an aesthetic experience. It seemed worthwhile to put these poems together here. Finally, a section from the title sequence of Field Work is read.

Field Work can be purchased here, and Station Island here. A good selection from the first half of his career can be found in Selected Poems 1966-1987.

Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to [email protected].

I assume that the small amount of work presented in each episode constitutes fair use. Publishers, authors, or other copyright holders who would prefer to not have their work presented here can also email me at [email protected], and I will remove the episode immediately.