Sweeney Astray (1983)

I first encountered some of these poems and associated prose passages in Opened Ground, the mid-'90s selection of work from Heaney's career, and was at the time not terribly enamoured of them. In that volume the aesthetic best of the pieces were selected, and it made them more than a bit obtuse and impenetrable at times — artistically pleasing, perhaps, but narratively adrift.

Taken as a relatively complete whole — a number of lines are omitted for stylistic reasons — in my opinion those same passages don't inspire the same reaction. Though Heaney himself comments that the poem occasionally has some moments of less inspired verse, I found that I had a greater appreciation for the sublime sections when I was less confused over just who the characters speaking were, and what precisely they were talking of.

While I understand why the selections appeared in Opened Ground, the improved ease of comprehension in the longer narrative of Sweeney Astray and the subsequent increased appreciation makes me glad that I didn't act according to my initial feelings after reading it, and instead picked up the full work. ( )

What a rare treat--the magic of medieval Irish prose translated with the poetic brilliance of Seamus Heaney. A poignant and beautifully told story. ( )