Week 15 Analysis: A literary Analysis

Seamus Heaney, “Digging, Anahorish, Broagh…” (977-985)

            The poem “punishment” is about the contemplation of a body found in a bog. This body is of a woman who had been drowned for adultery in ancient Scandinavia. In this poem, I seem to come across the themes of death and punishment. We come across death threw the sheer explanation of this dead women and probably the many bodies she lied in that bog with. We then come across the theme punishment because she was explained to be brutally beaten, and the author even goes as far as to state what she would have looked like before the punishment. For example, “Little adulteress, before they punished you…you were flaxen-haired, undernourished, and your tar-black face was beautiful. My poor scapegoat…” (983). The narrator seems to be a man of contemplation who seems to be concerned of whether this punishment was right or wrong. For example, “who would connive in civilized outrage yet understand the exact and tribal, intimate revenge.” (983). Here, the narrator seems to come to understand both sides so this is a good example of the narrator’s contemplation with this situation and real life. This is where the historical context comes in with the obvious sacrifice, which has to do with sacrificial slaughter in the Iron Age society. He also compares the troubles of this time with that of the troubles of Northern Ireland with primitive violence. This could be the author referencing the incident where thirteen unarmed Catholic protesters were killed by British army forces. This event in 1972 is called Bloody Sunday. Therefore, he is stating that the slaughtering, primitive violence is not all that different from that of Northern Ireland’s violence. This poem blatantly connects the issues in Ireland with the British to issues of this past with these violent deaths in the Iron Age society.

"Punishment". The Norton Anthology World Literature, Third Edition, Vol. D. Martin Puchner. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Pages 977-985. Fairfield Medium with the display set in Aperto.