In several of his poems, Seamus Heaney uses various bog bodies, found throughout Ireland and Denmark, to connect past to present. The bodies are generally considered to be Iron or Bronze Age sacrifices, preserved by the anaerobic conditions within bog peat[1]. This state of preservation is often striking, as skin, fingernails, and even hair are relatively intact. Heaney himself notes that they seem like more than just a dead body, asking “Who will say ‘corpse’ / to his vivid cast?” (The Grauballe Man, 25-26)[2]. Through these bodies, Heaney finds new perspective on the killings of The Troubles.
The first of these poems is “The Tollund Man”, which establishes themes of worship in connection to the bog bodies, as well as the parallel to modern political killings. The body was found in Denmark, and dates from 210 BC[3]. Tollund Man is one of the more complete bodies, with a very well preserved head. The cause of death is also easier to determine; Tollund Man is naked except for his hat, girdle, and a noose around his neck. In the poem, Heaney suggests that this preservation is similar to treatment of saintly bodies with the lines, “Those dark juices working / Him to a saint’s kept body,” (15-16), before furthering the idea of Tollund Man as object of worship with “I could risk blasphemy, / Consecrate the cauldron bog / Our holy ground and pray” (25-27). Heaney also connects Tollund Man’s world to his own, writing “Out there in Jutland / In the old man-killing parishes / I will feel lost, / Unhappy and at home” (41-44). The sense of the bog bodies as sacred, as well as a grim reminder of the killings in Ireland at the time, is pervasive throughout these poems.
“The Grauballe Man” combines the reverence for the bodies with their connection to death to allow Heaney to question the source of his art. Grauballe Man was also thought to be a sacrifice, although some of his injuries are now thought to be post-mortem[4]. In the poem, the sense of saintly reverence from “The Tollund Man” is instead replaced by a more artful respect. This can be seen from the vivid descriptions of the body, noting that “… he lies / on a pillow of turf / and seems to weep / the black river of himself.” (2-4). Heaney also notes that Grauballe Man seems “hung in the scales / with beauty and atrocity:” (41-42). This line acknowledges not only the beauty of Grauballe Man, but also the violence that he suffered. Heaney’s poetry, especially the bog body poems, draws on atrocities in Ireland to create something profound and beautiful. However, by combining aspects of the bog bodies, the poem reminds the reader that beauty comes “with the actual weight / of each hooded victim, slashed and dumped.” (46-48).
“Punishment” uses the same sense of empathy for the bog bodies, as well as a connection between the Windeby Girl and victims of tarring from The Troubles to examine Heaney’s response to violence. Windeby Girl was found in Germany, and had a shaved head. While this is now most likely explained by natural bog processes[5], it was initially assumed to be confirmation of a traditional Germanic punishment for adultery[6], and reminded Heaney of women tarred in Belfast for sleeping with British soldiers. The poem starts with Heaney empathizing with the Windeby Girl, imagining her perspective, including through such statements as “I can feel the tug” (1). Heaney’s empathy seems to run deep enough that he writes “I almost love you” (29). Despite this empathy, Heaney is unwilling to speak out against the punishment noting that he “… would have cast, I know, / the stones of silence.” (20-32). The sense of respect for the Windeby Girl allows Heaney to effectively question his own inaction with regards to similar punishments in his own time.
Of all the bog body poems, “Bog Queen” is the odd one out. Both the sense of respect and the connection to modern violence appear to be absent from the poem, but help make the poem stronger through their absence. There is still respect and empathy in the poem, but it is more inherent in Heaney’s choice to write from the Bog Queen’s perspective than from the text itself. Instead, the text suggests violation. Words such as “groped” (7), “bruised” (22), and “digested” (11) are used throughout the first part of the poem to describe the effect of the bog, but the more clear example of violation is the description of her discovery. The Bog Queen states “I was barbered / and stripped / by a turf-cutter’s spade” (42-44). The Bog Queen’s viewpoint allows the readers to understand the disrespect of the Bog Queen and her resulting anger. Although this anger is not connected to any specific violence, the poem uses rebirth language, including the description of “my brain darkening, / a jar of spawn / fermenting underground” (18-20) and “The plait of my hair, / a slimy birth-cord / of bog, had been cut” (50-52). This culminates in the final stanza, where the Bog Queen states “and I rose from the dark, / hacked bone, skull-ware, / frayed stitches, tufts,” (53-56) suggesting that violence and vengeance will result from this rebirth. Overall, the poem still relies on respect and violence, but arguing that a lack of respect for the past has caused it to return, bringing violence and vengeance with it.
The final bog body poem, “Strange Fruit”, concludes the group of poems by questioning themes of respect and violence in these poems. The description of the girl focuses as much on her exhibitors as on the girl herself, and while Heaney refers to “her leathery beauty.” (5), he also opens by comparing her to a gourd: “Here is the girl’s head like an exhumed gourd.” (1), and describes “Her eyeholes blank as pools in the old workings.” (8). Heaney reminds us, that ultimately, she is just a “Beheaded girl, outstaring axe / And beatification, outstaring / What had begun to feel like reverence.” (11-14). The poem also reminds us not to just accept “… gradual ease among the likes of this: / Murdered, forgotten, nameless terrible” (9-10). By treating these bodies with reverence, although Heaney gains perspective, he also risks normalizing the violence that they are witness to. “Strange Fruit” provides closure for these poems by recognizing these limitations of Heaney’s connection to the bog bodies.
The use of bog bodies allows Heaney to explore the nature of the violence present during The Troubles. Through their striking appearance, and well-preserved sense of humanity, Heaney is able to respect, and even empathize with them. Heaney seems to truly present from their perspective, raising questions about the role of witnesses and artists in the ongoing violence. This new, more general perspective gives the poems the raw impact of the violence without the political reasoning behind them, revealing common patterns of violence that are as true in the Iron Age as in The Troubles.
Works Cited:
Heaney, Seamus. “Opened Ground”
Brothwell, Don. “Bog Bodies.” The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. : Oxford University Press, 1996. Oxford Reference. 2004. Date Accessed 25 Jun. 2017 <http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195076189.001.0001/acref-9780195076189-e-0059>.
Brothwell, Don. “Tollund Man.” The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. : Oxford University Press, 1996. Oxford Reference. 2004. Date Accessed 25 Jun. 2017 <http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195076189.001.0001/acref-9780195076189-e-0449>.
Heaney, Seamus. Opened ground: poems, 1966-1996. London: Faber and Faber, 1998. Print.
Lobell, Jarrett A. and Samir S. Patel. “Bog Bodies Rediscovered. (Cover Story).” Archaeology, vol. 63, no. 3, May/Jun2010, pp. 22-29. EBSCOhost,
Lynnerup, Niels. “Bog Bodies” The Anatomical Record, vol. 298, no. 6, 1007-1012. Wiley Online Library, doi:10.1002/ar.23138
[1] Brothwell, Don. “Bog Bodies.” The Oxford Companion to Archaeology.
[2] Heaney, Seamus. Opened ground: poems, 1966-1996
[3] Brothwell, Don. “Tollund Man.” The Oxford Companion to Archaeology.
[4] Lynnerup, Niels. “Bog Bodies” The Anatomical Record
[5] Lobell, Jarrett A. and Samir S. Patel. “Bog Bodies Rediscovered. (Cover Story).” Archaeology
[6] Brothwell, Don. “Bog Bodies.” The Oxford Companion to Archaeology.