Customer Reviews
Interesting but not Great - By: Herman Norford, 08 Dec 2007 
Seamus Heaney's first collection of poems, "Death of a Naturalist", was published 41 years ago. "District & Circle" is Heaney's 12th volume of poems. It is the first collection of poems by Heaney that I have read. This obviously makes me very new to Heaney's work. Acknowledged as one of the leading poets writingin English, I approached Heaney's District & Circle with some awe.
The of poemsin this collection were publishedin other outlets before being brought together as "District & Circle". What holds them together & give them a sense of cohesiveness is Heaney's reflections & observations of ordinary things & activities that run throughout the book. In "The Aerodrome" Heaney reflects upon a specific place & the way it changes over time. In this poem Heaney's tone & attitude is one of concern & love for this place. There is a revealing line that says: "if self is a location, so is love". Take another example, the title poem, District & Circle. In this poem the ordinary activity of an under ground journey is presentedin a refreshing manner that makes one pause for thought about the hustle & bustle of daily life.
These poemsin the main appear to be very personal. They display autobiographical vignettes of Heaney's experiences. There are references to religionin the three poems under the heading "Out of this World", there is the keen observation of a mowing machinein the "The Iowa Snow", & there is the mischievous playful youth being surprised by naturein the poem "On the Spot". I marvelled at Heaney's experiences but found it difficult to empathized with him.
If there is a particular form that stands outin this collection, it is the sonnet-like poems. I say sonnet-line because although these poems have the required 14 lines they do not have any rhyming patterns. The sonnet props up throughout the book & it is herein particular that I think Heaney is at his best. He uses the sonnet to spring surprises upon us - see "The Nod", or sometimes to pin un downin the mundane everyday things & activities of life - see "A Clip".
However, these were not poems that reached out & engaged me emotionally. Instead, I was left with the impression of a master conducting an intellectual exercise &in full technical control of his material. Perhaps the best example of this isin two connected poems - "Poet to Blacksmith" & "Midnight Anvil". In these two poems one could hear the tone of the speaker's voice & grasp a sense of the rhythm of normal natural chatter. However, I felt shut out from what appears to be the setting of rural life.
The poemsin this collection appear to me to be very insular. They lack universal appeal. Nonethess,in reading the collection, I marvelled at what appeared to be Heaney's attempt to forge a new language to present his subject matter - for example, the poems are littered with new compound words. I found the collection technically sound butin terms of subject matters addressed it lacked significance so for this reason I can only give it three stars.
IT IS A PLEASURE...... - By: Val De Beer, 26 Jan 2007 
It is a pleasure, albeit a humbling experience, to review this collection of poems written by Seamus Heaney at the height of his poetic genius.
Since it arrived from Amazon, news reached me of the fact that he has won the prestigious T S Eliot Prize For Poetry, & it is anot surprising to anyone to read this.
Seamus Heaney has always had praise for his family & for the farming community of County Derryin Northern Ireland where he grew up. The soft rhythms of the countryside are heardin his early poems, butin 'District & Circle'where 'turnip heads were let fall & fed / to the juiced-up inner blades'....'as it dropped its raw sliced mess,/ bucketful by glistering bucketful'the idyllic country life is seenin all its horror as well as its beauty.
'The first blow that could make air of a wall,/......The staked earth quailed & shiveredin the handle'is very different from the actionsin 'Digging'- one of his early poems.
There are a number of prose poems as well which have an intensity & glory of their own, as well as the sequence 'The Tollund Manin Springtime.' Coming laterin Heaney's life, these poems embody the strength & power of his writing, & his superb control of the medium.
The eponymous poem 'District & Circle' is one of my personal bestin this book, portraying the tension & stress to be foundin the London Underground, with its moments of awareness of the numbers who are travelling with youin the eternal journey through life.It is a brilliantly structured poem, with resonances of his childhoodin the memory of his father as he sees his own face reflectedin the glass.
The more one reads that particular poem, the more one realises what a consummately polished piece of work it is,and how fortunate we are to be reading such a brilliant poem.
Another poem which I loved was the one called 'Stern - In Memory of Ted Hughes' which begins 'And what was it like,' I asked him / 'Meeting Eliot' & the brilliant reply 'When he looked at you'/ He said, 'it was like standing on a quay/Watching the prow of the Queen Mary / Come towards you, very slowly.'/
'Now it seems I'm standing on a pierhead watching him'....
We are watching Seamus Heaney making great strides over the world of poetry, a man totallyin command of his medium, whose words bow to him.
It is an unforgettable book & it is difficult to say how great an effect it has on one to bein the presence of poetic genius.
A truly rich collection of poems - By: peter, 23 Jan 2007 District & Circle is a great collection of poems & one of Seamus Heaney's best. These are lovely poems that celebrate & do justice to what is real & of importancein the world. They celebrate physical presencein life & nature. Heaney enables us through the texture of his words to renew our contact & contract with the world. The poems are life-affirming but at the same time the poet is not blind to darkness & mortality & chance, the things that are destructive of love.
Some of my favourite poemsin this collection include: The Lift, Nonce Words, In Iowa, Quitting Time & The Blackbird of Glanmore.
This is not just a book to read, it is also a book to re-read & think about & absorb.
eliot's scholar - By: cyrilthemonkey, 20 Jan 2007 this is an innovative display of language from cover to cover; investing the reader's attentionin areas we would usually overlook.
this collection has recently been described as 'exhilarating' by judges which awarded the t. s. eliot award 2006 to it, which celebrates the pinnacle of poetry. dark & mysterious, yet accessible & relevant; this book is essential.
