SeamusHeany's Punishment poem summary.

Punishment Seamus Heany’s “Punishment” was inspired by the discovery of a dead body of a young girl who was killed on the charge of adultery.He takes this discovery as an ancient example of brutality and links it with the modern form of brutality which is evident of Irish rebels killing of Irish girls who marry British solidiers.This poem putting brutality at the center links past and present,history and modern time, then and now,there and here. “Bog” in the poem serves as the central metaphor that is symbolic of continuation of in humanity,brutality,cruelty and killing of innocent people throughout the human history. In this poem the poet using his sympathetic imagination describes the way the girl was punished on the charge of adultery .He creates the picture of a weak and fragile girl and seems to be suffering her pain and agonies.When the girl was punished,she was pulled a rope from her neck and was made naked.The girl was trembling with cold,her whole body was shaking .She was considered as if she was not human and non-living.They used old knife to shave her head.Her eyes were blind folded so that she couldn’t see the world.Finally,she was buried alive.The stones,rods,and boughs,were used to cover the bog. The poet beautifies the dead body and attempts to create a mental picture of the girl,when she was alive.He compares ‘shaved head’ to ‘stubble of black corn’ the noose to a ‘ring’ and he imagines a beautiful picture of the girl as flaxen haired with a beautiful tar-black face. The poet shows his sorrow and pity to the girl by saying “my poor scape goat”,which indicates she alone is the victim of the so-called crime of adultery.Her partner is not punished because he is male.So,she alone became scape goat. According to the poet’s view “love” is not a crime.He shows his ambivalent attitude regarding his relation to that girl,on the one hand he claimes to be in love with that girl.But on the other hand he shows his helplessness that he would do nothing to save the girl.He raisesthe serious question about the role of an artist in a situation why innocents are victimized.He became ‘voyeur’ in that situation. The poet repeats the same role of passive obsever and links past and present.He compares the brutality of tribal men of first century AD and brutality of Irish revolutionary Army.Even if the poet is Irish ,mostly he engages with Irish culture,tradition or the convention,he explores the dark spots of human history in Irish culture. Through this poem Heaney demonstrates how even people who are on the surface educated,rational and compassionate humanbeings,turn irration and brutal when such sensitive issues are brought to the fore.He displays a lamentable two faced approach,which is common among the people of today. --------------------- 0 ---------------------------