IndexExamples of Prompts for the Essay "Blackberry Picking"Example Essay "Blackberry Picking"Works CitedExamples of Prompts for the Essay "Blackberry Picking"Imagery and Symbolism: Analyzing the Use of imagery and symbolism in "Blackberry Picking" and how Heaney uses these literary devices to convey deeper meaning and emotion in the poem. Narrative Voice and Tone: Discuss the narrative voice in the poem and the tone that Heaney adopts, and examine how they contribute to understanding of themes and themes by the reader. Nature and nostalgia: Explores the themes of nature and nostalgia in "Blackberry Picking" and how Heaney's portrayal of the natural world intersects with his feelings of longing and memory Metaphorical: Interprets the poem on a metaphorical level, considering how the act of picking blackberries serves as a metaphor for broader aspects of human experience and desire. Tension Between Pleasure and Disappointment: Analyze the tension between the initial pleasure of blackberry picking and the subsequent disappointment and decay, and discuss how this tension reflects larger themes in the poem "Blackberry Picking" Essay Example Seamus Heaney was an Irish poet and well-known as one of the major poets of the 20th century. Heaney once described himself as someone who "emerged from a hidden and buried life and entered the realm of education". In the mid-1960s Heaney was considered part of a group of poets who were later recognized as constituting a kind of "northern school" within Irish writing, a group stylistically diverse but united in having been born into a deeply divided society . along religious and political lines. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay "Blackberry picking" by Seamus Heaney is a poem about time, greed, limitations, life's struggles, and the disappointments that come with them. The poem is written retrospectively about an individual's life. Although seemingly written in the first person, Heaney refers to the various life difficulties and disappointments experienced by almost everyone in the pursuit of happiness. Happiness is not something you seek, but what you become. In the first stanza, the poet uses intense imagery and meaningful metaphors, as well as alliteration. The poem begins with “Late August,” a time of year known for harvesting. As seen in the line, “For a whole week, blackberries would ripen,” the poet uses the short span of a week to metaphorically convey the brevity of life and ever-elusive time. “At first just a shiny purple clot… ; its flesh was sweet as thickened wine”, the language used in these lines appeals to a combination of senses. Heaney uses berries, their attractive color and flavor as a metaphor for life's many superficial attractions. Things on the surface can seem beautiful and fun and thus cause a person to concentrate madly on achieving them hoping that they will give immense pleasure and happiness. The lines "You only ate one and its flesh was sweet ...leaving stains on the tongue and the desire to collect”. On a superficial level, Heaney may seem to be referring to blackberries and their sweet taste that lingers on the tongue compelling a person to have more. These lines, upon further analysis, can be seen as an analogy to the many attractions of life such as money, fame or love. These attractions can have an intoxicating effect on people and turn them almost like drug addicts who feel almost compelled to keep coming back to them again and again. Heaney goes on to say how these berries make you a slave to desire as the speakerexpresses "He sent us away the milk cans, the peas cans, the jam jars; where the brambles scratched and the wet grass whitened our boots". This desire for more is so strong that it can have an effect of control over the person. The variety of containers mentioned for picking berries is an analogy to the crazy drive of a desire that can lead a person to use any means to achieve it. The images used in the second line almost make the reader see the scratched hands and the faded boots in an attempt to get berries. Again this is a metaphor that when an individual has a worldly desire, he will do anything to satisfy it, no matter how much it may harm a person's ambitions can push him to forget all the risks and to go for what he craves. Heaney uses onomatopoeia: "clattering bottom" to almost make the reader hear the strange containers full of blackberries. Although this may not be true for berries. The use of personification "like a plate of eyes" makes the reader imagine the blackberries glaring at the picker wondering why they were picked. This disappointment with the berries when they are picked perhaps translates into the fact that what a person may want so madly may not be the best thing for him. similarities. The gatherer's hands are wounded by the thorns and sticky with the blood of the berries like those of Bluebeard. Bluebeard is a character in the tales who killed his wives with his bare hands and therefore they were sticky with blood. This is a reference to how a person can use inappropriate means to achieve their ambitions. In the last stanza, using imagery, Heaney brings out the air of disappointment that follows wish fulfillment. “But when the tub was full we found a fur coat; A gray rat mushroom, filling itself with our treasure; Even the juice smelled. Heaney used sensory and visual imagery here. Once the container was full, the picker could see the mushrooms eating on the berries and they began to rot and smell. This is also true in the case of fame, wealth or love and is largely due to Hedonic Adaptation, which is really simply the fact that human beings get used to what happens to them. Once a person gets what he once madly pursued, he adapts to it and then craves something else. He realizes that that thing doesn't give him the continued happiness he perceived to come from it. And all the time and effort you put into achieving it might seem for nothing. “I always felt like crying. It wasn't right; That all those delicious cans smelled rotten. The use of the juxtaposition “lovely cans” and “it smelled like rot” highlights the stark contrast between the two states the berries were in as they transformed from an object of desire into something repulsive. And this injustice of the situation makes you cry like a child. This metaphorically represents the disillusionment one may feel after fulfilling one's hedonic desires as they may not provide the perceived happiness. “Every year I hoped they would deliver, I knew they wouldn't.” Heaney uses antithesis in this last line accentuating the futility of hoping that the berries will not rot. Here he speaks from the perspective of an adult who recognizes and looks back on the futility of his aspirations and ambitions. Yet, year after year, he desires and pushes himself towards achieving something new hoping that it will make him happy. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In conclusion, “Blackberry Picking” by Seamus Heaney “ is a lot,.