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THERE HAVE BEEN tributes paid to the late poet Seamus Heaney who died today, aged 74.
Heaney, a Nobel laureate, was one of Ireland’s and indeed the world’s best known poets and had been suffering from ill health in recent weeks.
President Michael D Higgins has led tributes today speaking of Heaney’s “immense” contribution to “the republics of letters, conscience and humanity”.
The President, himself a poet, continued: “As tributes flow in from around the world, as people recall the extraordinary occasions of the readings and the lectures, we in Ireland will once again get a sense of the depth and range of the contribution of Seamus Heaney to our contemporary world, but what those of us who have had the privilege of his friendship and presence will miss is the extraordinary depth and warmth of his personality.
“The presence of Seamus was a warm one, full of humour, care and courtesy – a courtesy that enabled him to carry with such wry Northern Irish dignity so many well-deserved honours from all over the world.”
Long before his being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature which Sabina and I, and the late Davy Hammond attended with him as his guests, we were aware of his grace and his generosity.His careful delving, translation and attention to the work of other poets in different languages and often in conditions of unfreedom, meant that he provided them with an audience of a global kind. And we in Ireland gained from his scholarship and the breath of his reference.
Generations of Irish people will have been familiar with Seamus’ poems. Scholars all over the world will have gained from the depth of the critical essays, and so many rights organisations will want to thank him for all the solidarity he gave to the struggles within the republic of conscience.
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said that “we have lost a great Irish poet and a great Irishman”.
“Seamus was an exceptional ambassador for Ireland,” Gilmore said in a statement. “His work reflected his deep love and knowledge of the Irish land and the Irish people. His poetry explained us to ourselves. In his work, the dignity and honour of the everyday lives of people came to life.”
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today show this morning, the Arts and Heritage Minister Jimmy Deenihan paid tribute to the poet, saying that his work had gone all over the world, noting that he had recently been in Paris with him where he performed to a “huge audience”.
“I was in China there before Christmas and I was in the national library and some of his works had been translated into Chinese,” he said adding that the Derry-born poet was a “very humble, modest man, as we all know, and he was very accessible.”
Press Ombudsman and friend, John Horgan, told the same programme that Heaney was “a great listener, a great talker and a great reader” and said that as a friend of many decades he “gave far more than he ever received”.
Heaney’s fellow poet Eavan Boland said that he was an ”an extraordinarily good poet” and said that his death is “a tremendous, tremendous loss.”
Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, has also paid tribute to Heaney:
His Sinn Féin colleague and party president Gerry Adams said: “I knew and was very fond of Seamus.
“He was a wonderful man as well as a literary figure of huge international stature, regarded by many as the greatest Irish poet since Yeats.”
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said that Heaney “was a giant of modern literature”.
“He was a unifying figure, who gave voice to the changing dynamic on our island and the potential that exists,” Martin said. “The fact that he is on the curriculum for school children on both parts of the island is a fitting tribute to the unique role and resonance he had.”
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Will he get a state funeral? Genuine question – I think he’s been a wonderful ambassador for Ireland all over the world.
He deserves one But they are only reserved for Presidents who die in Office I think.
Long live our “President” and may the angles lead Seamus Heaney to paradise Amen
Jack Lynch got one though and he wasn’t in office or president when he died……
Taoisigh are also entitled to State funerals. Given that Heaney was from Northern Ireland and will probably be buried in Northern Ireland, I can’t see how the South could run the show.
I remember Seamus Heaney on the late late show the night the daughter of the lady who win the prize had been killed in an accident, he recited the most beautiful piece of poetry which summed up that moment perfectly. He was a true talent and his work will live on for generations to come. RIP
I think that was Brendan Kennelly, not Seamus Heaney.
That’s correct. The clip is up on YouTube somewhere.
“A four foot box, a foot for every year”! A true legend that will be sorely missed! A sad day for Irish poetry! RIP
I remember studying his poem “blackberrys” back in 1st year almost ten years ago! Still remember it today! Class poet, I’m sure you’ll be remembered forever
He has left a legacy that will be remembered for generations to come.May he rest in Peace Our prayers and thoughts are with his family at this time. He Did Ireland Proud.
We have lost a poet who, like Kavanagh, could make poetry from the small fields and whin bushes of his native South Derry and the flat expanse of Lough Neagh to tell truths that spanned continents. A kindly, gentle, humorous man whose work has brought joy, solace and consolation to thousands who did not have the privilege of knowing him and whose words will live on to delight generations to come; and who spoke as well, quietly but firmly, about justice, dignity and human rights.
Seamus taught me English at Queens University, Belfast, when he was not much older than his students. We studied Milton and Milton’s lines on the death of a friend in his poem Lycidas seem appropriate on this sad day:
“Weep no more, woeful shepherds, weep no more,
For Lycidas your sorrow is not dead,
Sunk though he be below the watery floor,
So sinks the day-star in the Ocean bed, And yet anon repairs his drooping head,
And tricks his beams, and with new-spangled Ore,
Flames in the forehead of the morning sky”,
With deepest sympathy to Marie, Michael, Chris and Catherine
Michael Farrell
One of the very few poets to make it out the far side of “Soundings” with genuine affection still intact. RIP.
I remember reading The Forge in primary school, must be 30 years ago. It is still one of my favourites. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.
Walk on air against your better judgement.
RIP Seamus Heaney
I had several opportunities to go and hear him read, many years ago when I was in college. Always chose to do something else instead. Kicking myself now :(
RIP Seamus Heaney
My english lecturer is james heaney, I was always getting them mixed up. As brilliant as he was he was no seamus heaney : )
Rest in peace seamus, youir suffering is over. I had the pleasure of studying your poetry both in junior and leaving cert years. To me you are still one of the greatest poets in this land. Your work will always live on, conolances to your family and friends…..
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