Search quotes

Link	Quote	Tags	Author
f541b6d	If you have the words, there's always a chance that you'll find the way.	poetry finding-your-voice	Seamus Heaney
38dd9ff	Human beings suffer, They torture one another, They get hurt and get hard. No poem or play or song Can fully right a wrong Inflicted and endured. The innocent in gaols Beat on their bars together. A hunger-striker's father Stands in the graveyard dumb. The police widow in veils Faints at the funeral home. 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 ho..		Seamus Heaney
5676850	It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning. For every one of us, living in this world means waiting for our end. Let whoever can win glory before death. When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark.	revenge poetry	Seamus Heaney
bc1352e	Behaviour that's admired is the path to power among people everywhere.		Seamus Heaney
eafa7b9	Anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things: what's said and what's done.	beowulf-seamus-heaney coast-guard	Seamus Heaney
26d3d6f	History says, Don't hope On this side of the grave, But then, once in a lifetime The longed-for tidal wave	poetry	Seamus Heaney
8ade2c6	Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.	poetry writing	Seamus Heaney
be029a1	If self is a location, so is love: Bearings taken, markings, cardinal points, Options, obstinacies, dug heels, and distance, Here and there and now and then, a stance.		Seamus Heaney
b2842f3	I rhyme To see myself, to set the darkness echoing.	writing	Seamus Heaney
39a3686	Now it's high watermark and floodtide in the heart and time to go. The sea-nymphs in the spray will be the chorus now. What's left to say? Suspect too much sweet-talk but never close your mind. It was a fortunate wind that blew me here. I leave half-ready to believe that a crippled trust might walk and the half-true rhyme is love.		Seamus Heaney
c23ef26	I shall gain glory or die.		Seamus Heaney
9286224	The main thing is to write for the joy of it. Cultivate a work-lust that imagines its haven like your hands at night dreaming the sun in the sunspot of a breast. You are fasted now, light-headed, dangerous. Take off from here.		Seamus Heaney
3299c6e	Sink every impulse like a bolt. Secure	words	Seamus Heaney
477d410	So hope for a great sea-change On the far side of revenge. Believe that further shore Is reachable from here.		seamus heaney
0c3ac01	The way we are living,	poetry living life choices	Seamus Heaney
76c1612	That was their way, their heathenish hope; deep in their hearts they remembered hell.	hope paganism	Seamus Heaney
373ff65	Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear.		Seamus Heaney
6a4bd86	Since when," he asked,	poetry endings beginnings-and-endings	Seamus Heaney
7e5f123	It is difficult at times to repress the thought that history is about as instructive as an abattoir; that Tacitus was right and that peace is merely the desolation left behind after the decisive operations of merciless power.		Seamus Heaney
45613d6	A ring-whorled prow rode in the harbour, ice-clad, outbound, a craft for a prince. They stretched their beloved lord in his boat, laid out by the mast, amidships, the great ring-giver. Far fetched treasures were piled upon him, and precious gear. I have never heard before of a ship so well furbished with battle tackle, bladed weapons and coats of mail. The massed treasure was loaded on top of him: it would travel far on out into the ocean's..	poetry burial	Seamus Heaney
1d44a96	In off the moors, down through the mist beams, god-cursed Grendel came greedily loping.		Seamus Heaney
895f41a	And a young prince must be prudent like that, giving freely while his father lives so that afterwards, in age when fighting starts steadfast companions will stand by him and hold the line.	leadership seamus-heaney gifts	Seamus Heaney
e8ee09a	A four foot box, a foot for every year.	death-of-a-loved-one	Seamus Heaney
fb90064	Meanwhile, the sword began to wilt into gory icicles, to slather and thaw. It was a wonderful thing, the way it all melted as ice melts when the Father eases the fetters off the frost and unravels the water-ropes. He who wields power over time and tide: He is the true Lord.		Seamus Heaney
c500ceb	Be advised my passport's green.		Seamus Heaney
bc80815	Believe that further shore Is reachable from here.		Seamus Heaney
9df5d56	Once off the bush The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour. I always felt like crying. It wasn't fair That all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot.		Seamus Heaney
f5bad6a	Bebeorh the done bealo-nid, Beowulf leofa, secg betsta, ond the thaet selre geceos, ece raedas; ofer-hyda ne gym, maere cempa! Nu is thines maegnes blaed ane hwile; eft sona bid thaet thec adl odde ecg eafothes getwaefed, odde fyres feng odde flodes wylm odde gripe meces odde gares fliht odde atol yldo, odde eagena bearhtm forsited ond forsworced; semninga bid, thaet dec, dryht-guma, dead oferswyded. O flower of warriors, beware of that tra..		Seamus Heaney
db67cdb	The dotted line my father's ashplant made		Seamus Heaney
1cafc83	We want what the woman wanted in the prison queue in Leningrad, standing there with cold and whispering for fear, enduring the terror of Stalin's regime and asking the poet Anna Akhmatova if she could describe it all, if her art was equal to it.		Seamus Heaney
192e277	Believe that a further shore is reachable from here.	inspiration perspective	Seamus Heaney
843afe7	Fate goes ever as fate must.		Seamus Heaney
7153fe3	It is said that once upon a time St. Kevin was kneeling with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross in Glendalough. . . As Kevin knelt and prayed, a blackbird mistook his outstretched hand for some kind of roost and swooped down upon it, laid a clutch of eggs in it and proceeded to nest in it as if it were the branch of a tree. Then, overcome with pity and constrained by his faith to love all creatures great and small, Kevin stayed i..		Seamus Heaney
78c0e12	We were small and thought we knew nothing Worth knowing. We thought words travelled the wires In the shiny pouches of raindrops, Each one seeded full with the light Of the sky, the gleam of the lines, and ourselves So infinitesimally scaled We could stream through the eye of a needle.		Seamus Heaney
7dab9f9	I want away to the house of death, to my father under the low, clay roof.	life messengers	Seamus Heaney
8750985	How perilous is it to choose not to love the life we're shown?		Seamus Heaney
d16adcb	Then I thought of the tribe whose dances never fail / For they keep dancing till they sight the deer.		Seamus Heaney
a32364f	More than loud acclaim, I love Books, silence, thought, my alcove.	poem irish	Seamus Heaney
c7d746a	He sits, strong and blunt as a Celtic cross, Clearly used to silence and an armchair:		Seamus Heaney
5e9a0dd	Only the very stupid or the very deprived can any longer help knowing that the documents of civilization have been written in blood and tears, blood and tears no less real for being very remote.		Seamus Heaney
6f1bbe5	As writers and readers, as sinners and citizens, our realism and our aesthetic sense make us wary of crediting the positive note. The very gunfire braces us and the atrocious confers a worth upon the effort which it calls forth to confront it.		Seamus Heaney
4ef2647	Postscript And some time make the time to drive out west Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore, In September or October, when the wind And the light are working off each other So that the ocean on one side is wild With foam and glitter, and inland among stones The surface of a slate-grey lake is lit By the earthed lightning of a flock of swans, Their feathers roughed and ruffling, white on white, Their fully grown headstrong-looking hea..	poetry	Seamus Heaney
378c5c1	Over the waves, with the wind behind her and foam at her neck, she flew like a bird until her curved prow had covered the distance...		Seamus Heaney
f85e755	Digging Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. Under my window, a clean rasping sound When the spade sinks into gravelly ground: My father, digging. I look down Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds Bends low, comes up twenty years away Stooping in rhythm through potato drills Where he was digging. The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft Against the inside knee was levered firmly. He rooted ou..		Seamus Heaney

If you have the words, there's always a chance that you'll find the way.

Seamus Heaney

38dd9ff

Human beings suffer, They torture one another, They get hurt and get hard. No poem or play or song Can fully right a wrong Inflicted and endured. The innocent in gaols Beat on their bars together. A hunger-striker's father Stands in the graveyard dumb. The police widow in veils Faints at the funeral home. 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 ho..

Seamus Heaney

5676850

It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning. For every one of us, living in this world means waiting for our end. Let whoever can win glory before death. When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark.

revenge poetry

Seamus Heaney

bc1352e

Behaviour that's admired is the path to power among people everywhere.

Seamus Heaney

eafa7b9

Anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things: what's said and what's done.

beowulf-seamus-heaney coast-guard

Seamus Heaney

26d3d6f

History says, Don't hope On this side of the grave, But then, once in a lifetime The longed-for tidal wave

poetry

Seamus Heaney

8ade2c6

Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.

poetry writing

Seamus Heaney

be029a1

If self is a location, so is love: Bearings taken, markings, cardinal points, Options, obstinacies, dug heels, and distance, Here and there and now and then, a stance.

Seamus Heaney

b2842f3

I rhyme To see myself, to set the darkness echoing.

writing

Seamus Heaney

39a3686

Now it's high watermark and floodtide in the heart and time to go. The sea-nymphs in the spray will be the chorus now. What's left to say? Suspect too much sweet-talk but never close your mind. It was a fortunate wind that blew me here. I leave half-ready to believe that a crippled trust might walk and the half-true rhyme is love.

Seamus Heaney

c23ef26

I shall gain glory or die.

Seamus Heaney

9286224

The main thing is to write for the joy of it. Cultivate a work-lust that imagines its haven like your hands at night dreaming the sun in the sunspot of a breast. You are fasted now, light-headed, dangerous. Take off from here.

Seamus Heaney

3299c6e

Sink every impulse like a bolt. Secure

words

Seamus Heaney

477d410

So hope for a great sea-change On the far side of revenge. Believe that further shore Is reachable from here.

seamus heaney

0c3ac01

The way we are living,

poetry living life choices

Seamus Heaney

76c1612

That was their way, their heathenish hope; deep in their hearts they remembered hell.

hope paganism

Seamus Heaney

373ff65

Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear.

Seamus Heaney

6a4bd86

Since when," he asked,

poetry endings beginnings-and-endings

Seamus Heaney

7e5f123

It is difficult at times to repress the thought that history is about as instructive as an abattoir; that Tacitus was right and that peace is merely the desolation left behind after the decisive operations of merciless power.

Seamus Heaney

45613d6

A ring-whorled prow rode in the harbour, ice-clad, outbound, a craft for a prince. They stretched their beloved lord in his boat, laid out by the mast, amidships, the great ring-giver. Far fetched treasures were piled upon him, and precious gear. I have never heard before of a ship so well furbished with battle tackle, bladed weapons and coats of mail. The massed treasure was loaded on top of him: it would travel far on out into the ocean's..

poetry burial

Seamus Heaney

1d44a96

In off the moors, down through the mist beams, god-cursed Grendel came greedily loping.

Seamus Heaney

895f41a

And a young prince must be prudent like that, giving freely while his father lives so that afterwards, in age when fighting starts steadfast companions will stand by him and hold the line.

leadership seamus-heaney gifts

Seamus Heaney

e8ee09a

A four foot box, a foot for every year.

death-of-a-loved-one

Seamus Heaney

fb90064

Meanwhile, the sword began to wilt into gory icicles, to slather and thaw. It was a wonderful thing, the way it all melted as ice melts when the Father eases the fetters off the frost and unravels the water-ropes. He who wields power over time and tide: He is the true Lord.

Seamus Heaney

c500ceb

Be advised my passport's green.

Seamus Heaney

bc80815

Believe that further shore Is reachable from here.

Seamus Heaney

9df5d56

Once off the bush The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour. I always felt like crying. It wasn't fair That all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot.

Seamus Heaney

f5bad6a

Bebeorh the done bealo-nid, Beowulf leofa, secg betsta, ond the thaet selre geceos, ece raedas; ofer-hyda ne gym, maere cempa! Nu is thines maegnes blaed ane hwile; eft sona bid thaet thec adl odde ecg eafothes getwaefed, odde fyres feng odde flodes wylm odde gripe meces odde gares fliht odde atol yldo, odde eagena bearhtm forsited ond forsworced; semninga bid, thaet dec, dryht-guma, dead oferswyded. O flower of warriors, beware of that tra..

Seamus Heaney

db67cdb

The dotted line my father's ashplant made

Seamus Heaney

1cafc83

We want what the woman wanted in the prison queue in Leningrad, standing there with cold and whispering for fear, enduring the terror of Stalin's regime and asking the poet Anna Akhmatova if she could describe it all, if her art was equal to it.

Seamus Heaney

192e277

Believe that a further shore is reachable from here.

inspiration perspective

Seamus Heaney

843afe7

Fate goes ever as fate must.

Seamus Heaney

7153fe3

It is said that once upon a time St. Kevin was kneeling with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross in Glendalough. . . As Kevin knelt and prayed, a blackbird mistook his outstretched hand for some kind of roost and swooped down upon it, laid a clutch of eggs in it and proceeded to nest in it as if it were the branch of a tree. Then, overcome with pity and constrained by his faith to love all creatures great and small, Kevin stayed i..

Seamus Heaney

78c0e12

We were small and thought we knew nothing Worth knowing. We thought words travelled the wires In the shiny pouches of raindrops, Each one seeded full with the light Of the sky, the gleam of the lines, and ourselves So infinitesimally scaled We could stream through the eye of a needle.

Seamus Heaney

7dab9f9

I want away to the house of death, to my father under the low, clay roof.

life messengers

Seamus Heaney

8750985

How perilous is it to choose not to love the life we're shown?

Seamus Heaney

d16adcb

Then I thought of the tribe whose dances never fail / For they keep dancing till they sight the deer.

Seamus Heaney

a32364f

More than loud acclaim, I love Books, silence, thought, my alcove.

poem irish

Seamus Heaney

c7d746a

He sits, strong and blunt as a Celtic cross, Clearly used to silence and an armchair:

Seamus Heaney

5e9a0dd

Only the very stupid or the very deprived can any longer help knowing that the documents of civilization have been written in blood and tears, blood and tears no less real for being very remote.

Seamus Heaney

6f1bbe5

As writers and readers, as sinners and citizens, our realism and our aesthetic sense make us wary of crediting the positive note. The very gunfire braces us and the atrocious confers a worth upon the effort which it calls forth to confront it.

Seamus Heaney

4ef2647

Postscript And some time make the time to drive out west Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore, In September or October, when the wind And the light are working off each other So that the ocean on one side is wild With foam and glitter, and inland among stones The surface of a slate-grey lake is lit By the earthed lightning of a flock of swans, Their feathers roughed and ruffling, white on white, Their fully grown headstrong-looking hea..

poetry

Seamus Heaney

378c5c1

Over the waves, with the wind behind her and foam at her neck, she flew like a bird until her curved prow had covered the distance...

Seamus Heaney

f85e755

Digging Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. Under my window, a clean rasping sound When the spade sinks into gravelly ground: My father, digging. I look down Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds Bends low, comes up twenty years away Stooping in rhythm through potato drills Where he was digging. The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft Against the inside knee was levered firmly. He rooted ou..

Seamus Heaney