Some fine music, but Heany's poetry ~ ~ not for me, nor are dickie bows or string ties
Some fine pipe and whistle playing by Liam, but dear ol' Seamus Heaney isn't among my large list of appreciated poets. I find his way with words too pretentious and florid, with Classical references dropped here and there, like Troy and Carthage, while serving no useful purpose in the poem. While he chooses natural and earthy things for his subject, his treatment of those subjects does not come off naturally. Maybe if he bothered to go out in the fields with his da and dig spuds, and get muddy, he'd have a better hand on the subject matter, and would be less likely to drop clumsy references in among the comic topiary and top heavy hybrid tea roses of his prose...
But, hey, some folks like it that way, laid on thick. While he didn't necessarily follow what he preached, I'm with Ezra Pound on preferring things handled in more economic ways, along with the Imagists, Basho, Han Shan, Frost, Dickinson, Yeats, Williams, Rich - too many to mention... And I also appreciate the raw, like Bukowski, and the primitive...
The Poet and the Piper
Exquisite blend of poetry and music - recommended
# Posted on August 7th 2011 by Eachann mac Bodach
Details
Seamus Heaney - words
Liam O'Flynn - Uilleann Pipes, whistle
Rod McVey - harmonium
Stephen Cooney - guitar
Claddagh Records. 2003.
# Posted on August 7th 2011 by Eachann mac Bodach
Some fine music, but Heany's poetry ~
~ not for me, nor are dickie bows or string ties
Some fine pipe and whistle playing by Liam, but dear ol' Seamus Heaney isn't among my large list of appreciated poets. I find his way with words too pretentious and florid, with Classical references dropped here and there, like Troy and Carthage, while serving no useful purpose in the poem. While he chooses natural and earthy things for his subject, his treatment of those subjects does not come off naturally. Maybe if he bothered to go out in the fields with his da and dig spuds, and get muddy, he'd have a better hand on the subject matter, and would be less likely to drop clumsy references in among the comic topiary and top heavy hybrid tea roses of his prose...
But, hey, some folks like it that way, laid on thick. While he didn't necessarily follow what he preached, I'm with Ezra Pound on preferring things handled in more economic ways, along with the Imagists, Basho, Han Shan, Frost, Dickinson, Yeats, Williams, Rich - too many to mention... And I also appreciate the raw, like Bukowski, and the primitive...
# Posted on May 2nd 2012 by ceolachan