The passage has also been quoted by Bill Clinton in the past.
Democratic candidate Joe Biden has quoted Seamus Heaney in his latest campaign video, just days ahead of the US presidential election.
In the new video, Biden calls on voters to vote for him on 3 November, and he used the words of the great Seamus Heaney to do so.
It shows clips of recent protests across America, while Biden commentates over it, reading out the Seamus Heaney verse The Cure at Troy: A Version of Sophocles’ Philoctetes.
It reads: History says, Don’t hope
On this side of the grave,
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up
And hope and history rhyme.
Take a look at the campaign video here:
"History says, don't hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme."
– Seamus Heaney pic.twitter.com/7nB1ytYlvm— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 29, 2020
The well-known verse has been referenced by Biden a number of times in the past, as well as Bill Clinton when he spoke in Derry in 1995.
Heaney said that he wrote the verse with Nelson Mandela in mind.
Biden, like many presidents in the past, can trace his roots back to Ireland, and has recently spoke about what he will do for Irish-Americans and for Irish causes if he is to be elected.
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