Human Chain Poems

ABostonGlobeBestPoetryBookof2011Winnerofthe2011GriffinPoetryPrizeWinnerofthe2011PoetryNowAwardSeamusHeaney\'snewcollectionelicitscontinuitiesandsolidarities,betweenhusbandandwife,childandparent,thenandnow,insideanintentlyrememberedpresent--thesteppingstonesoftheday,theweightandheftofwhatispassedfromhandtohand,liftedandlowered.HumanChainalsobroacheslargerquestionsoftransmission,oflifelinestotheinheritedpast.TherearenewlymintedversionsofanonymousearlyIrishlyrics,poemsthatstandatthecrossroadsoforalandwritten,andother\"hermitsongs\"thatweighequallyintheirbalancethecraftofscribeandthepoet\'searlycallingasscholar.Aremarkablesequenceentitled\"Route101\"plotsthedescentintotheunderworldintheAeneidagainstsinglemomentsinthearcofalife,froma1950schildhoodtothebirthofafirstgrandchild.OtherpoemsdisplayaVirgilianpietasforthedead--friends,neighbors,family--thatisyetwhollyandmovinglyvernacular.HumanChainalsoincludesapoetic\"herbal\"adaptedfromtheBretonpoetGuillevic--lyricsasdelicateasferns,whichpuzzlebrieflyovertheworldofthingsandlandscapesthatexcludehumanspeech,whileaffirmingtheinterconnectednessofphenomena,asofaself-sufficiencyinwhichwetooareincluded,