My father worked with a horse-plough,
His shoulders globed like a full sail strung
Between the shafts and the furrow.
The horse strained at his clicking tongue.
An expert. He would set the wing
And fit the bright steel-pointed sock.
The sod rolled over without breaking.
At the headrig, with a single pluck
Of reins, the sweating team turned round
And back into the land. His eye
Narrowed and angled at the ground,
Mapping the furrow exactly.
I stumbled in his hob-nailed wake,
Fell sometimes on the polished sod;
Sometimes he rode me on his back
Dipping and rising to his plod.
I wanted to grow up and plough,
To close one eye, stiffen my arm.
All I ever did was follow
In his broad shadow round the farm.
I was a nuisance, tripping, falling,
Yapping always. But today
It is my father who keeps stumbling
Behind me, and will not go away."
From
reading Heaney's poems, it is obvious to me that he had a great, memorable
childhood. After watching Seamus Heaney's Documentary: Out of the Marvellous, I
can see that he had a strong relationship with his family. The theme of home
was very prominent from this documentary. On this theme, I am going to discuss
one of Heaney's poems "Follower" which for me, displays this theme
very well. First of all, what is home? The definition of home will vary from
person to person, but my take on the word home is a place of honesty, safety
and a place of belonging. "Follower" portrays this theme in my
opinion because Heaney looks up to his Dad which shows he trusts him. In my
opinion trust is a emotion strongly felt with family. The poem also deals with
the theme of growing up, and this reminds me of home.
"Follower"
is a poem which relates back to Seamus Heaney's past memories which he had
experienced when he was at a younger age, they are memories of him and his
father and their relationship. We are told in the first stanza that his father
owned a potato farm, and he helped him harvest the crops. From reading the
first four stanzas, we are led to believe that Heaney's dad was very
hardworking, precise and good at his job as a farmer. The first sentence of the
second stanza sums up what Seamus Heaney thought of his father, An expert. I
don't think that Heaney was just refering to his skill in farming, I believe
Heaney thought of his dad as an inspiration, and for that reason, saw him as an
expert in everything he did. The simile "His shoulders globed like a full
sail strung between the shafts and the furrow," emphasises how powerful
and vast he appeared to Heaney as a child. I get the impression from this line
that Heaney's father was needed for to keep things running smoothly, like a
sail on a boat is the most important part. His father's skill is shown in the
lines "the horse strained at his clicking tongue" (this shows how he
had the horses in his control) and also "The sod rolled over without
breaking." (Showing that he was a very careful man.) Halfway through the
poem, the poem becomes very personal, using the pronoun "I." The
focus shifts from the father, to the son. Heaney becomes aware of himself, and
no longer needs his dad. This suggests the transition from childhood to
adulthood. Heaney aspires to be like his father "I wanted to grow up and
plough" but he seems sad that all he ever did was get in his father's
way and followed him around, living his life in his shadow. Heaney was his
father's shadow.
In the last stanza,
Heaney changes roles with his father. This shows the vulnerability of the old
and the young. Heaney depended on his father, and now his father depends on him
due to his old age. It was the poet himself who was a nuisance at the start of
the poem, but now Heaney see's his father as a nuisance, "stumbling behind
me." The final words ‘and will not go away’ seem harsh, as if Heaney
finds his father as irritant, yet his father put up with him when he was a
young boy, getting in the way. It almost seems selfish, but perhaps indicates
Heaney finds it a challenge to juggle his working life as a poet and minding
his father. To me, Heaney is being honest, and honesty is found in the
home.
