Analysis of FOLLOWER by Seamus Heaney

An analysis of "Follower" by Seamus Heaney "Follower" is a poem which relates back to Seamus Heaney's past memories which he had experienced when he was at a younger age, they are memories of him and his father and their relationship. From the poem we can interpret that he was brought up on a potato farm and in many of his other poems he relates to this, this suggests that perhaps he enjoyed farming or perhaps he is expressing the family's traditions. "Follower" is a poem which strongly relates to Heaney's past life. The poem also suggests the theme of growth, at the beginning of the poem he is a young boy, who looks up to his father. However, by the end of the poem it is his father who needs help from his son. The first three stanzas of the poem are written in the third person with all words relating to his father as 'he' or 'his'. But there is a change in the fourth stanza and from then on until the end of the poem, it is written in the first person with only one reference in the whole of the last two verses to his father as 'him'. The tone of the poem is quite reminiscent and it is obvious that the poet when he was young was in awe of his father. 'Follower' is a poem which relates to his past life which can be regarded as a big space of time. This gap in time can be noticed by the regularity of the poem. The structure of the poem has an even number of four line stanzas and a combination of six stanzas in total. There are about five sets of imagery in the poem, often the imagery in 'Follower' is based on the appearance of his father. For example in the first stanza on the second line he has written: 'His shoulders globed like a full sail strung Between the shafts and the furrow' This means that his father looks like a full sail strung from far because perhaps his shirt is being blown by the wind making him have the appearance of a full sail strung between the shafts and the furrow. This is also quite a magnificent piece of imagery as the sail of a ship is very important to the rest of the ship and is very magnificent, which is what Seamus Heaney is trying to tell the Follower, tells about his relationship with his father as a young child. He appeared to look up to his father. Sardonically, by the end of the poem, his father needed his help and looked up to him. There may have been times in your life that you looked up to your parents and admired them for they way they treated each other. They also may have seemed to always be by your side no matter what and you believed they were very smart, right? Well in this poem, the young boy felt the same way about his father. You might remember the old proverb ???follow close on those who go before you???. This poem is a typically example of how a person can influence our lives. We can have uncompromising admiration for our parents as this young boy had for his father. The uncompromising admiration in this poem was positive, but in real life situations, we need to be careful that this admiration does not become dangerous. The boy's declaration ???all I ever did was follow??? can also show that this boy had low self-esteem issues. As he grew older his father began to follow him around. This shows that his father had admiration for the boy also. This boy never thought about what it was like to be a leader but accepted his role as a follower. The young boy as he grew older knew how to survive in a leadership position. He paid close attention to his father who was there when he needed him. Once the tables were turned the adult boy knew exactly what his father needed. 1)How do these lines express his fathers skills and qualities? 'His sholders globed like a full sail strung' - This could show that his fathers shoulders are so strong, he could hold up the world, and it could also be hardworking. It could also be a metaphor about how the father protects the son. The horses strained at his clicking tongue' - This shows the fathers skill as he knows how to control the horses and they obey him. 'With a single pluck /Of reins, the sweating team turned round' - This shows again that the horses are obedient and also that they know what to do as they have done the drill so many times. 'Dipping and rising to his plod' - This shows he has not only physical skill, he has the mental skill of technique aswell.

2) What do these lines tell you about young Seamus Heaney? 'I stumbled in his hob-nailed wake' - This tells the reader that he is following his father and attempting to follow his footsteps but he is stumbling and falling over attempting. 'I was a nuisance, tripping, falling /Yapping always' - This tells you that he is a distraction too his father with all of the things he did but he still let him do everything with it. 3) What animal does young Heaney remind you of? Young Heaney reminds me of a lost puppy, following its owner around all the time. 4) How has the relationship changed according to the last two and a half lines? The last two lines tell you that the tables have turned and his father has grown old over time and is not able to do the job anymore but Heaney can do the job as he has learned off his father. Heaney describes his father at work when he was at his prime. It starts of with a matter-of-fact that his father worked with a horse plough. From then on the tone is one of admiration and respect for the strength and skill of his father. His shoulders are globed: with connotations of immense rounded size, just like the earth he is tilling. Nautical imagery is employed as these same shoulders are globed like a full sail gaining a feeling of power and energy being harnessed and powered along. His power is emphasised in the last line of the first stanza, where The horses strained at his clicking tongue. Its quite like that passage in James in the bible about the power of the tongue, where the tongue is compared to a rudder that can steer a whole ship. I do not know if this was in Heaneys mind when he wrote it, but there is a resonance for me there. The point is the same: a click from his tongue can make the horse do as he wished; a small movement to harness power. The second stanza opens with the minor sentence, An expert which both sums up the first stanza and leads into the development of the idea of expertise in the second move away from brute power into the skill of his father in ploughing. The sod rolled over without breaking. Echoing the click of the tongue, there is a single pluck/of reins which turns the team of horses round. The third stanza continues to give an impression of precision: Mapping the furrow exactly. The fourth stanza moves the focus from his father to Heaney himself. There is a marked contrast with his father as Heaney stumbled. There is an imature ineptitude conveyed here, as he fell sometimes. He describes being given a piggy-back and he was carried along with him. Heaney states that it was an ambition to plough like his father, and there is a tinge of sadness that All I ever did was follow in his broad shadow. He was never going to be as good as his father at ploughing. He was a nuisance, tripping, falling,/Yapping like some kind of foolish and playful puppy. The tables are turned in the last two lines when Heaney brings the poem up to the present: it is my father who keeps stumbling/Behind me, and will not go away. I think these lines are really sad. His once strong father is now frail and demanding almost a nuisance. The roles are reversed. I suppose the sadness is that the poet could not carry his father so he could dip and rise along with his son. I didnt like feeling as if Heaney had lost patience with his elderly father, but that is the impression I got. Maybe hes just being honest. The poem, Follower, by Seamus Heaney is about Heaney, as young boy, and his admiration for his father. Heaney was brought up on a farm in County Derry, where his father would plough the fields. Heaney admired his fathers skill and strength. Sometimes his father would pick him up and carry him on his back as he ploughed. Heaney admired his father so much, that he too, wanted to become a farmer with the same skill and strength. He remembers often being a nuisance, by getting in the way of his father while he ploughed. At

the end of the poem, Heaney comments on how the roles have changed and how his father is now the nuisance, who follows him. The poem is structured with six four-line stanzas, each line has four main beats and the stanzas are regularly rhymed ABAB. This precise form of poetry is arguably, Heaneys way of reflecting the skill and precision of his father, while he was ploughing the fields. The first three stanzas of the poem are focused on Heaneys memories of his father ploughing. Heaney uses a metaphor and a si The poem, Follower, by Seamus Heaney, is quite poignant in developing certain themes, by way of the techniques employed. Heaney writes the, Follower, as part of his childhood and his experiences and feelings at the time and after. The ideas that time changes all, brings forth a loss in the innocence of childhood. Also he comments upon the instincts present within us and the views, which the poet sees in hindsight of following his father, both literally and metaphorically. The poet details these ideas within the poem, by way of his language and various other techniques. This essay will discuss the significance of the form and structure used, the diction, the metaphorical language and images dealt with as a result and the how they relates with the poets ideas. There are several extended images and metaphors employed by the poet, Heaney to show his various ideas in the, Follower. The poet extends a nautical metaphor through the poem, to demonstrate his fathers power, when he saw him through the eyes of a child. His shoulders globed like a full sail strung, says the poet, utilising a nautical simile to show his father This poem is about how a little boy looks up to his father who is a farmer as his role model.He wants to follow his father\'s footsteps and admires him so much that he too wants to be a farmer when he grows up.He remembers how he was nuisance, tripping, falling, Yapping always.But now its his father who keeps stumbling behind him,and will not go away.This is a perfect example of role revrsal. i think that the poem deals with issues of parenting and childhood. seamus Heaney as a child did not mind following but as time went by and he grow older and much more independent and was able to make his own decisions. \"Globed like a full sail strung\" in the first stanza describes the appearance of the muscular father and the diction spells admiration. ironically in the last stanza this changes to \"today its my father who keeps stumbling behind me\" this shows that heaney is now older and now acknowledges the fact that there is more to life than just farming so he doesnt admire his father any more.. The run on lines at the end o stanza 2 and begginin of stanza 3 shows the movement of the horses as they mapped furrows The poems central point is role reversal- and how Seamus Heaney\'s father has lost his status over the years. The life cycle of a human being is quite symbolic in this poem- his father goes from being an \"expert\" and knowing what he\'s doing until age catches up with him and slaps him round the face- returning him back to square one- where he has to rely on younger people. I think that he\'s probably \"Yapping\" at Seamus Heaney- trying to get him to reconsider his motives and descion to become a writer- probably trying to hold an objective view- but, making Seamus Heaney feel guilty for not continuing the farming tradition in the family- which is why Seamus Heaney is saying his father \"will not go away\". He won\'t leave him alone and let him decide for himself his aims and objectives in life. I think that Seamus Heaney\'s father is holding him against his word- \"I want to grow up and plough\". But, obviously- Heaney hasn\'t stuck to his guns. And- so, his father is finding the need to pester him about it. Although, Heaney respects that it\'s a highly skilled job. All he ever did was follow- he didn\'t have his own point of view, his future was panned out for him- he would be forced to follow the tradition of farming. \"All I ever did was follow.\" All he ever did was copy his father, because this is what he was taught to believe was appropriate. But- he probably became rebellious and re-evaluated his aims in life. Contradicting everything his father ever taught him. Which is why he won\'t \"go away\".

This is a thought provoking poem as it highlight some issues a father and son can have when roles are reversed. Heaneys admiration for his father is shown beautifully with alot of detail and the last stanza leaves us thinking. this poem evokes a feeling of the viscious circle; a person who was once an \"expert\" will lose this trait thorugh life and as age takes its toll. The boy, without skill and naive will take the place of his father who is now losing his skills due to his age. The father in the last stanza has stared to follow the son. This could shopw that his father is getting lost in new technolgy and the son is taking it in his strid and the father is the one who can\'t keep up with the new advances so is asking the son for help and won\'t go away. This poem is about the stages of life, the streangths and abilities of grown ups and how as time goes by they go back to the childhood stage when they could not do anything.At the begining of the poem th author is young and learning from his father and at the end of the poem he\'s old and knows how to plough but the father is old and has no strenght to work.One of the theme being highlighted in the poem is LIFE CYCLE. hope this helps,i\'m just a Grade 13 student,this is my own understanding of the poem :) some of these explanations are not entirely right on the center issue i currently just studied this poem and the main theme of the poem is role reversal how in the begining heaney as a young boy is unskilled while his father is skille he is portrayed as a nuisance to his father but in the end as then grow older the roles reverse heaney becomes the skilled one while his father loses his skills and then is shown as the nuisance. sense of loss of innocence from chiuldhood and patience The last stanza is about how maybe his father has passed on and now all that is left is his memories stumbling in the back of the poet's head to be remembered for the rest of his life. It's what inspired this poem! Follower The title of this poem is ambiguous - it shows how the young Heaney followed his father literally and metaphorically. d The child sees farming as simply imitating his father's actions (close one eye, stiffen my arm), but later learns how skilled the work is. He recalls his admiration of his father then; but now his father walks behind (this metaphor runs through the poem). Effectively their positions are reversed. His father is not literally behind him, but the poet is troubled by his memory: perhaps he feels guilt at not carrying on the tradition of farming, or feels he cannot live up to his father's example. The poem has several developed metaphors, such as the child's following in his father's footsteps and wanting to be like him. The father is sturdy while the child falls - his feet are not big enough for him to be steady on the uneven land. There are many nautical references: The father's shoulders are like the billowing sail of a ship. The sod rolls over without breaking (like a wave). The child stumbles in his wake and dips and rises on his father's back. Mapping the furrow is like navigating a ship. In these images the farmer is not shown as simple but highly skilled. Heaney uses specialized terms (a special lexicon or register) from ploughing - terms such as wing, sock and headrig. There are many active verbs - rolled, stumbled, tripping, falling and yapping. There are lots of monosyllables and colloquial vocabulary, frequently as the rhyme word at the end of line. Some of these terms sound like their meaning (onomatopoeia), like clicking, pluck and yapping. The metre of the poems is more or less iambic (in tetrameters - four poetic feet/eight syllables to each line) and rhymed in quatrains (stanzas of four lines). We see a phrase without a verb written as sentence: An expert. The poet uses contrast - apart from the general contrast of past and present we note how:

 the father's control is effortless (clicking tongue or single pluck/Of reins) while the powerful horses (sweating team) strain, and how the young Seamus wanted to grow up and plough. but all he ever did was follow. In thinking about the poem you might like to consider these questions: What does the poem show of the relationship of father and son, and how time has changed this? What does the last line of the poem mean? Does Heaney really want his father to go away? Is this a poem about farming specifically or is it relevant to other skills and occupations? How does Heaney explore the idea of family tradition here? This poem reflects the idea that as time goes on, roles and responsibilities often change or swap with in a family. In this poem, Hearney is trying to show the wonderful relationship that he had with his father as a youngster. There is a sense that Hearney as he was following his father's shadow, he was being taught something precious. Now as a grown up, it is the father that is follwing in his shodow and it could be about his poetry. He is now a writer and his father is also trying to write as well but Hearney is the excellent one. Ok...This poem have many imageries such as: his dad working with plough which shows the ploughing as an image. Dipping and rising shows the action "ing" going on in that part of the poem. the poem clearly states the close relationship between young heaney and his father. The first three stanzas of the poem focus on heaneys memories of his father. Heaney looks up too his father so much that he said he wanted too grow up and plough. this poem is about a typical father and a son. Seamus Heany describes clearly and in an efective the relationship between the father ans the son. it is about a son, who admires his fathers hard work and physical strength. he wants to follow in his fathers foot steps. he describes how he's father, carried him on his back, if he was a "nuisance, tripping, falling, Yapping always". overall this poem is very effective, and Heany shows this in many ways. By mussarat bano (15) This poem conveys the relationship between a father, and his son. The narrator (Heaney, and also the son) is very proud and in awe at his father's skilful ploughing of the land, and wants to grow up and plow as skilfully and as well as him, although he is just trailing along behind his father as he ploughs, and getting in the way.. The steady pace, and rhyme scheme gives a feel of the regular rhythm of the ploughing. At the end it is ironic, because now his father has reached old age, it is him who keeps " keeps stumbling Behind me, and will not go away"