“ Since when," he asked,"Are the first line and last line of any poemWhere the poem begins and ends? Seamus Heaney
“ Nowadays, what an award gives is a sense of solidarity with the poetry guild, as it were: sustenance coming from the assent of your peers on the judging panel. Seamus Heaney
“ The experimental poetry thing is not my thing. It's a programme of the avant-garde: basically a refusal of the kind of poetry I write. Seamus Heaney
“ As writers and readers, as sinners and citizens, our realism and our aesthetic sense make us wary of crediting the positive note. Seamus Heaney
“ Diodorus Siculus confessedHis gradual ease among the likes of this:Murdered, forgotten, nameless, terribleBeheaded girl, outstaring axeAnd beatification, outstaringWhat had begun to feel like reverenc… Seamus Heaney
“ The experiment of poetry, as far as I am concerned, happens when the poem carries you beyond where you could have reasonably expected to go. Seamus Heaney
“ At home in Ireland, there's a habit of avoidance, an ironical attitude towards the authority figure. Seamus Heaney
“ Did you ever hear tell,'said Jimmy Farrell,'of the skulls they havein the city of Dublin?White skulls and black skullsand yellow skulls, and some with full teeth, and some haven't only but one,' and c… Seamus Heaney
“ What I've said before, only half in joke, is that everybody in Ireland is famous. Or, maybe better, say everybody is familiar. Seamus Heaney
