Follower
My father worked with a horse plough,His shoulders globed like a full sail strungBetween the shafts and the furrow.The horses strained at his clicking tongue.An expert. He would set the wingAnd fit the bright-pointed sock.The sod rolled over without breaking.At the headrig, with a single pluckOf reins, the sweating team turned roundAnd back into the land. His eyeNarrowed and angled at the ground,Mapping the furrow exactly.I stumbled in his hobnailed wake,Fell sometimes on the polished sod;Sometimes he rode me on his backDipping and rising to his plod.I wanted to grow up and plough,To close one eye, stiffen my arm.All I ever did was followIn his broad shadow around the farm.I was a nuisance, tripping, falling,Yapping always. But todayIt is my father who keeps stumblingBehind me, and will not go away.
Commentary:
In "Follower" by Seamus Heaney the author uses an extended metaphor to compare his dads labor to that of a sailor. Heaney manages to create a mood and sense of admiration by doing this. The poem carries the overall effect and impact that this idea on the mind of the son throughout the entire poem.
On the opening lines of the poem Heaney choses to compare the hard working farmer dad to a sailor. By doing this he constructs this picture of admiration and the pride as seen from the eyes of his son. This is because the son views the hard labor of his dad as a heroic move from his part which ellaborates on the idea of a role model which in turn connects to the presentation of the task that the father accomplishes as a set example and role figure for the child to follow.
Sailors are often seen as brave and very attrective figures in the eyes of many. To a small child a sailor or the dream of being like on is just too amazing to even comprehend so the child or speaker of the poem uses this picture and idea to associate it with his father and his ability to do all this hard work.
As the poem comes to a conclusion we see that the author mentions that it is his dad that is now doing the following and we comprehend the idea of this trasitional circle of life that the author is tryinf to represent in this poem.
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3 comments:
I definitely saw and understood that sense of admiration, because Heaney kept noticing the dad's expertise and precision. And I definitely see the cyclical life thing or whatever. But do you think he's looking back and appreciating how his dad put up with his annoying following, or kind of ignoring that and still getting annoyed by his dad doing the following now? Is he appreciating his dad now I guess is what I'm asking. Because it could just be irony that he admired his dad and is now annoyed with him, maybe he can't help being annoyed but he doesnt want to be. I don't know, I guess it could be either way?
Although i did see the admiration the speaker has for his father i like the way you interpret the speakers pride of his father to a higher occupation of a sailor, than a farmer. To answer Claire's question, i think that the poem is more of a reflection on how the speaker once thought of his father as a great person. Now knowing he isn't as great as he thought but how he once followed him, and now the roles are reversed. So he feels that he isn't this great person put his father has the same faith in the speaker as the speaker did when he was a child.
You touch upon the whole 'sailor' bit quite frequently... What other nautical imagery did you notice?
I was watching channel 36 yesterday... There was an interesting point brought up about water, like oceans and seas. It can be used to represent things of a sexual or romantic nature, life, and birth/rebirth. Do you think any of these could be applied to Follower??
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