Says Something New and Different

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	• Seamus Heaney and the Emblems of Hope Karen Marguerite Moloney University of Missouri Press, 2007 - 212 pages average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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Hope

I have never read a book of literary criticism cover to cover before, but I found Moloney's book very readable and compelling, even. I had an interest in Ireland's history and in its relationship with England before I began, and I have always enjoyed Arthurian legend. This book correlated with much of what I knew already, filled in gaps I didn't know were there, opened up new ideas, and has sparked my desire to go further in my studies in this area. I am also a new fan of Seamus Heaney's work. I look forward to other publications by Moloney. I loved the discussion on Patricia Coughlan's ideas and wonder if there will be any response from the feminist camp.

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Praying at the Water's Edge

Significant works of scholarship have a value that goes beyond research. This is such a book. Professor Moloney's thorough study of Heaney's place among Irish poets and within the Irish mythic tradition actually casts a wider net that includes all of us, embedded as we are in our conflicted sexes and societies, Irish or not. As Ms. Moloney, meticulously shows, Heaney and most other significant Irish poets have been struggling for centuries to come resolve or come to terms with a deep disconnect in the Irish past, as symbolized by the "Feis of Tara," a myth in various forms in which a hag-like mother-fertility figure must be accepted and embraced (sexually) in order to be transformed into a beautiful emblem of hope and fertility that renews a wasted land (country, Ireland). Professor Moloney's work suggests--by extention--that all of us, not just the Irish poets and people--suffer from some kind of similar disconnect and contradition, particularly in our sexual identities, and--by a further extention--in our respective political and historical contexts, regardless of what country we reside in. In short, we too are cut off--from our past, from ourselves, and from members of the opposite sex especially. We all need a reconciliation that will only come if we "effectively conquer" our "fear of the feminine," and achieve "the humility vitally required in our interaction with each other." Heaney's work, and the work of other Irish poets, is central to this imperative, healing objective--which must be achieved if the whole world is not to degenerate into something like the Irish "troubles" (i.e. Civil War) that forms the context within which Heaney is working, particularly. The solution is embodied in Heaney's quest to understand, accept, and then transcend the cultural mythology he inherited as an Ulster poet, conflicted from birth by Ireland's particular and violent disconnect. According to Moloney, Heaney "is linked utterly to his Irish past even as he argues memorably for a world beyond the post-colonial" (and post-patriarchal, if truth be told). Simply put, "it is kindness, after all" that "transforms" us, that frees us from the curses inherent in our cultural inheritances. As another Irish poet, John Montague, puts it, we need to move "beyond male condescension" and "feminist reaction," to "love's equal realm." This is why Moloney's book should be read--in addition to the fact that it also provides and introduction and insight into the work of several other significant Irish poets in addition to Heaney. It is a "hopeful" book in more ways than one.

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Says Something New and Different

This is the fourth book of literary criticism on Seamus Heaney I've read so far. Moloney manages to say something new about Heaney's mythologem and places it within its context of Irish literature. I would recommend Moloney's work over the others I've read so far.

I'm finally understanding...

For years I have been watching Seamus Heaney in interviews and wondered to myself, where does all this come from? Not a poet myself, I just intuitively felt there was much more to learn from him than I was grasping. Reading this book opened entirely new avenues of understanding for me, and Ms. Moloney obviously cares deeply for the man's work. Highly recommended!!

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A rich body of mythology and literature has grown around the Celtic ritual known as the Feis of Tara or marriage of sovereignty ancient ceremonies in which the future king pledges to care for the land and serve the goddess of sovereignty. Seamus Heaney has engaged this symbolic tradition in some of his most significant and controversial work. An impeccably researched and immensely readable work, Seamus Heaney and the Emblems of Hope reveals that Heaney s poetry offers a reverence for archetypal femininity and Dionysian energy that can counter the sterility and violence of postcolonial Irish life. In the tradition of poets who preceded him, Heaney turns to the marriage of sovereignty to encode a message for our times and to offer up emblems of hope on behalf of us all.

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