‘He wove Irish strife and soil into silken verse.’
The death of Seamus Heaney was mourned widely in Ireland yesterday as we came to terms with the passing of the Nobel Prize winner and one of the finest poets this country has ever produced.
Tributes to the Derry-born poet flowed from far and wide and he was remembered in numerous radio and television programmes last night, which recalled poems such as ‘Mid-Term Break’, ‘The Skunk’ and numerous others from his considerable body of work.
Heaney’s reputation spread far beyond Ireland, however, something that was reflected in the large tribute to him that adorned the front of the New York Times today, where you might have already seen an obituary to Heaney which ended with
a quite brilliant retraction about our own Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
A lovely touch from one of the world’s biggest newspapers.
He’ll be sadly missed.
