Blackberry Picking Essay

Blackberry Picking– Seamus Heaney Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet who was born in Mossbawn farmhouse and spent fourteen years of his childhood there. Many of his poems are based on personal experience; 'Mid–term Break', for example, was based on the death of his younger brother; and are laid out in settings akin to those he is familiar to. His poem, 'Blackberry Picking', is set on a farm and explores the simple luxury of picking fresh, ripe blackberries, his inspiration quite possibly being his own childhood. Thematically, the poem explores the idealistic nature of childhood, and the importance of waking up to reality as one grows older. The beginning of the poem is filled with a vivid passionate recollection of the seasonal picking of...show more content...

This makes the reader subconsciously recreate the tinkling sounds of the hard berries hitting the tinned surfaces of the milk cans, pea tins and jam pots, which in turns make the poem even more tangible and lifelike. Although there is just about as much imagery in the second stanza as there was in the first, these images are unpleasant and dull. As opposed to the colourful descriptions given previously, the description of the hoarded berries as having a 'rat–grey fungus (and a) stinking juice' puts forth undesirable images of the previously sinful and sweet berries. Where the berries in the previous stanza boasted of succulent colours, they are now covered by a dull 'grey' fungus. This contrast in imagery runs parallel with the contrasting themes of childlike passion and the adult realisation that nothing lasts. While the first stanza is colourful, bright and indulgent like the ideals of childhood, the second stanza is filled with more realistic imagery of spoil and decay that follows any over–indulgence, which is something that children, on becoming adults, are pushed to realise. The tone of the poem is joyous and passionate in the first stanza. The joy, however, is less to do with the eating of berries, which is mentioned just once 'You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet', than the picking of the same, which is mentioned multiple times. This conveys the childlike happiness felt in not just eating the blackberries, but also in the Get more content

Theme Of Blackberry Picking

By Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney's "Blackberry Picking," recounts a journey that starts with the luscious taste of a blackberry, sparking a "lust" (Line 7) in the speaker to go pick more. Nevertheless, such a journey is ended with the "cache" (Line 19) of blackberries rotting, yet he still continuously picks more every year with the same outcome, giving a false sense of hope to the speaker. Heaney can convey a strong image of what it's like to pick blackberries, and he can also portray the personal feelings of the entire experience through his use of sensory language and strong imagery. The language Heaney uses, in "Blackberry Picking", expresses the intimacy the speaker has with the taste of the blackberries, producing a visual bond with the characteristics of the berry. Heaney uses seductive language, such as describing the taste as "thickened wine" (Line 6) enough to give a sensation of "lust" (Line 7) for wanting to pick more. The blackberries are innate with "summer's blood" (Line 6) which "stains" (Line 7) the mouth with...show more content...

It starts off with, "our palms sticky as Bluebeard's" (Line 16), a reference that is naturally negative, since the use of Bluebeard as a descriptive word for the stickiness gushing out from the blackberries will only entail an undesirable outcome. Soon after the speaker brings the "fresh berries in the byre" (Line 17), does he witness the tragic sight of "fur" (Line 18) growing all over the berries. Additionally, there are several sensory stimulating phrases– "rat–grey fungus", "sweet flesh would turn sour", "canfuls smelt of rot", "fruit fermented"–which are used to convey the horror that emanates from the berries. These phrases powerfully communicate a strong feeling of disgust, accompanied by an even stronger feeling of disappointment. The long journey of picking the ripen "dark blobs" (Line 14) from the patches, is wasted in the end due to the rotten

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Blackberry Picking– Seamus Heaney Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet who was born in Mossbawn farmhouse and spent fourteen years of his childhood there. Many of his poems are based on personal experience; 'Mid–term Break', for example, was based on the death of his younger brother; and are laid out in settings akin to those he is familiar to. His poem, 'Blackberry Picking', is set on a farm and explores the simple luxury of picking fresh, ripe blackberries, his inspiration quite possibly being his own childhood. Thematically, the poem explores the idealistic nature of childhood, and the importance of waking up to reality as one grows older. The beginning of the poem is filled with a vivid passionate recollection of the seasonal picking of...show more content...

The line, 'I always felt like crying. It wasn't fair' ties up both, the childish reaction of crying when hit by the realisation that something good will not last, and the adult resignation to the fact that although it is never fair, such is life. On a more implicit note, the poem deals with the theme of greed and the dissatisfaction often involved in attempting to gain an object of desire. The attempt to acquire great amounts of this object by removing it from its natural setting and 'hoarding' it leads to its destruction and to the hoarder's disappointment. However, it is also implied that lessons on greed are seldom learned, 'Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew they would not.' Even with the knowledge that his efforts would be in vain, Heaney writes about how he was compelled to try and store the blackberries each year, thus bringing out a recurrent greed for the same object. The structure and language of the poem aid the reader in better understanding and connecting with it. The first part is merely a recollection that provides information; what time of the year it is, how the blackberries were collected. There is a lot of enjambment here, and this allows for a free flow of thoughts for the poet, as well as a better level of connection for the reader. This flow better creates the feelings and emotions of the poem, and allows the ideas in each line to flow into each other and create one

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Seamus Heaney's poem Blackberry–Picking uses very compelling word choice. There are many things I noticed within it that are interesting.

First, Heaney uses first person plural pronouns for most of the poem, implying that there was another person picking berries with the narrator. "We trekked...", "...our boots.", "Our hands...", he uses these pronouns a lot, so it is obvious the narrator wasn't alone. This may be an important, easily overlooked clue to the theme of the poem. The lesson of the poem is, stated loosely, the best things in life don't last forever, and this second character may have to do something with that. Almost all references to this second character appear in the first stanza. The second stanza has only one brief mention of another person right at the beginning of the line with "We hoarded the fresh berries in the byre." This is the last time Heaney mentions this second person. Immediately after this line, the mood of the poem shifts to a more melancholy, sad tone. One possibility is could be that the narrator loved this second person (the happy, playful tone in the first...show more content... The poem doesn't seem odd at first, but by looking at the specific words used, it seems a little off. Heaney uses words like "clot", "flesh", "blood", "tongue", "lust", "hunger", " on top big dark blobs burned like a plate of eyes", "palms sticky as Bluebeard's." These are awfully odd, unsettling words to use. I wouldn't describe blackberries on a bush as "a glossy purple clot." It is uncomfortable and unsettling to even read. I wouldn't describe the outside of a berry as "flesh", and I wouldn't describe the juice of it as "summer's blood." There has to be some reason that Heaney used this kind of word choice. At first read the poem sounds beautiful, but the more you read it the more, almost disgusting it is. It seems like Heaney specifically used unnerving word choice in this

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Analysis Of Blackberry Picking

By Seamus Heaney

All poetry aims to communicate an experience; a body of memory, sensation, or wisdom that contributes significant meaning to the life of a poet and of all human beings. It is the mystery of literature that one may speak of a single, physical incident, yet draw deep universal conclusions from it. Like the Christian dogma of the Word made Flesh, the Christ both fully mortal and fully divine, the best of poetry dwells paradoxically in the realms of both literal and figurative. Seamus Heaney's poem, Blackberry–Picking, exhibits a precise, elegant poetic technique that permits such a simultaneous existence. Through his use of overt religious allusions, intense, metaphorical imagery, and sharply contrasting symbols, Heaney reveals a young protagonist's journey from childhood to adulthood, or in essence, immaturity to maturity, with a focus on the speaker's reconciliation with an inconvenient yet inevitable truth – in essence, creating a Bildungsroman.

In the most literal sense, the speaker of Heaney's poem, is a young boy engaging in his annual summer activity of picking blackberries. At first the speaker appears to be anticipatory of the "late August... sun... [when] the blackberries would ripen" (Heeney 2). However, upon further examination, as the poem steadily progresses it quickly becomes evident that "there's [a] rub" (Shakespeare, 3.1.65). This "rub" is most prominently exposed through Heaney's contrasting images of divinity, with the first stanza alluding to Christ, communion, and the crucifixion, to the Biblically defined sins of gluttony, lust, and greed peppered throughout the first stanza and dominating the second. The first instance of an allusion is to that of a higher power when the speaker observes that, "...given heavy rain and sun/For a full week the blackberries would ripen." (Heaney 1–2). This absence of a direct means to an end, such as a farmer watering the blackberries, alludes to the presence, and in turn, influence of a higher power, in that the blackberries do not ripen themselves, only through natural means of "...heavy rain and sun..." (1–2). This reference to natural means of germination insinuates the conception of Jesus through Mary without the aid of a human father, or in the case of

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Blackberry-Picking

By Heaney

In his poem "Blackberry Picking," Seamus Heaney describes his experience as he picked blackberries; however, he creates a deeper poem by relating his experience to life. Heaney's use of colorful diction, simile, and imagery allow his audience to envision and go through the same experience that he went through as he advises that people should their time. Heaney's use of colorful diction allows the reader to get a deeper understanding of the poem as it draws the reader in. In line 3 of his poem, Heaney states that ripe blackberries resemble "glossy purple clot[s]." The use of diction in this line allows the reader to see the blackberries through Heaney's eyes. Here, the reader sees the blackberry as beautifully as Heaney does because he took

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Blackberry-Picking Analysis

Blackberry–Picking In "Blackberry–Picking" by Seamus Heaney, the speaker uses anatomical imagery to reveal the horror of losing the blackberries and enjambment to convey the rushed picking to avoid rot, and both contribute to the overall theme of false hope. The speaker's use of anatomical imagery emphasizes the horrific feelings that he holds towards his experience of losing the blackberries to rot. While describing the blackberries, the speaker states, "summer's blood was in it" using anatomical imagery of blood to reveal his feelings towards the blackberries. Blood brings to mind pain and death, and in the context of the blackberries, shows the speaker's negative response to picking the berries. Additionally, by claiming that the blood of summer was in the blackberry, the speaker implies the death of summer by way of eating the blackberries. This imagery is dark and gory, and emphasizes the speaker's disgust and almost hatred toward the berries and what they represent. The speaker goes on to say that "the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour," using anatomical diction to emphasize the rotting of the blackberries. This line utilizes a mix of juxtaposition and imagery to reveal the decay of the berries. By stating the flesh is sweet, the speaker implies that he enjoys the berries themselves, as sweet is typically seen as a positive term. However, he then juxtaposes sweet against sour, showing that as the...show more content...

The poem as a whole speaks to our human nature to continue to hope for change, even when we know it will not come. The tale of the blackberries being picked quickly and placed in a safe place only to be found inedible reveals that as humans, we will continue to persevere even if our goal is

Blackberry-Picking

By Heaney

In the poem, "Blackberry–Picking," Seamus Heaney describes the experience of picking blackberries. Although, Heaney does not only convey just a literal description of picking blackberries, but also a deeper understanding of the experience. The deeper message would be that even the best things in life can not be preserved. Through diction, similes, and oxymorons, Jeaney conveys the message and describes the experience. Heaney uses strong diction to describe the taste of the blackberries being picked. For example, "You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet." Instead of saying the outside of the blackberry or skin, he uses "flesh." Flesh is human skin, with muscles, bones, and blood behind it. He uses "flesh: because as he bit into the

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In Blackberry–Picking, Seamus Heaney isn't just retelling an experience. He masterfully weaves in a hidden lesson that becomes clear as the reader nears the end of the poem. His description of picking blackberries is in itself a metaphor of one's childhood memories and their perception at the time. He utilizes literary devices such as imagery, allusions and narrative point of view to set the mood, change the tone and draw in his readers. Mr. Heaney also structures his poem into two different sections, with each telling the story in a different tone with a different purpose behind it. However, what's more impressive is his use of intense diction to layer the poem with emotion and imagery that services his hidden message.

Seamus Heaney begins the poem by placing a time stamp on it. It begins in "Late August" a time for harvest which lays the groundwork for the harvesting that will ensue in terms of setting. That description places the reader in the right mood and mindset that Mr. Heaney builds on with his ...show more content...

For example, the way he describes his hands as being "peppered with thorn pricks" (15–16) and with his description of the spoiled berries being like "A rat–grey fungus"(18–19). He uses an intense description to fully realize the image or to some degree the memory he wants the reader to picture. While his language is intense it's never forceful, it's filled with passion but in a violent manner. He conveys his experience in a romanticized manner like when he mentioned the blackberry's "flesh was sweet like thickened wine"(5–6). However, he slowly moves away from the romanticized language and into a more natural language. While his intense language doesn't fade, it changes along with the tone as the poem transitions into the moral section. It changes in terms of its purpose. In the beginning, it sets an image that would guide the reader along while in the end it more used to invoke

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Blackberry picking by Seamus Heaney is about time, gluttony, limitations of life, and to some extent, the struggles of life. Heaney writes retrospectively about his life, with hindsight, about how he as a child, would go blackberry picking during a particular time of year.

Throughout the poem and particularly in the first stanza, Heaney uses a wide range of literary devices such as intense imagery or sensory imagery, exceptionally meaningful metaphors andalliteration.

Alliteration is used quite often in the poem. Throughout the whole poem, there is a frequent repetition of "b" words, such as "big dark blobs burned". In the readers mind, this creates a more powerful image of the berries, and gives a strong impression of their shape...show more content... They set out "with milk cans, pea tins, and jam pots". He was thrilled to pick the blackberries, and eventually get drunk on them. He was not worried about the dangers, "briars scratched and wet grass bleached our boots". His childish desires pressured him to forget all risks, and do what he craves for – all year long.

During and after filling up their cans, it is clear that the pace of the poem become is not fast, but is not slow either, rather it is in the middle. This is evident as they "trekked and picked until the cans were full,". Trekked suggests that they wandered around the "round hayfields, cornfields and potato drills" until they filled up their cans.

Heaney then says "Our hands were peppered, with thorn pricks, our palms sticky as Bluebeard's". He uses another simile by comparing their palms to that of Bluebeards, a well known murderer in some well known fairy tales. He used to murder his wives with his own hands, as a result, his hands would've been covered by blood. Therefore, after picking so many berries, their hands would be sticky from blackberries rather than blood.

After picking the berries, there hopes were really high "hoarded", meaning to store with excitement, they had their hopes up, but suddenly, after they filled the bath with blackberries, they found their treasure to be infested with "rat gray fungus", which put their hopes back down again.

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Blackberry Picking

Weaving Maturity and Innocence Together; an Analysis of "Blackberry Picking" As people grow into adulthood, they experience a loss of innocence, a series of events that leads them to see the world in a different, darker lens. Seamus Heaney's 1999 poem "Blackberry Picking" explores this idea. This poem uses mature diction combined with a childish rhyme scheme of AABB to explain how the sweetness of one's youth becomes soured when they experience reality and how this process is inevitable in tainting their past. As the reader analyzes this poem they immediately recognize the seemingly out of place mature language used in a poem about berry picking. The text uses words such as "thickened wine" and "lust for." These are very adult phrases and topics used to describe a childhood memory, which helps show that when one loses their innocence, their recollections are permanently changed. Another way the mature diction is used is a contrast to the childlike story that is being told in the poem. This extreme contrast is important because it...show more content... The poem uses the simplistic rhyme scheme of AABB, which is typically found in nursery rhymes and children stories. By using this rhyme scheme for the whole poem, the speaker is able to make known that the poem is about a memory of blackberry picking, not a current event. The lines also end very simply, ending with rhymes such as clot/knot and sun/ripen. Yet, as the poem continues the rhyme schemes become muddled and lost, which is shown through rhymes like pots/boots and sour/fair. The rhymes don't fit with the beginning of the poem, similarly how the mature language doesn't fit into the poem. The poem ultimately ends with disappointment, with the line "Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew that they would not." This helps tie the overall theme that nothing truly stays the same, that everything ends, including

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Heaney Blackberry-Picking

The childlike indulgence of blackberry picking has the key to understanding adversity. In "Blackberry–Pickings", a twentieth century poem by Seamus Heaney, the author conveys a deeper understanding of blackberry pickings by using similes and imagery to compare blackberry pickings to human suffering. Heaney's use of imagery reveals the deeper meaning of the poem by creating a comparison between blackberries and humans. Humans have diverse characteristics like blackberries. We are "a glossy purple clot/ among others, red, green, hard as a knot"(3–4). Before suffering occurs, Heaney says humans are different but one thing remains a common attribute: their "flesh was sweet"(5). Humans without suffering in their lives grow and develop into pleasant individuals. The author's imagery portrays the juicy sweetness of blackberries as a positive quality that humans can own. After humans pick blueberries, they change. "The sweet flesh would turn sour"(21). When suffering harvests humans, they also change. The deeper meaning of human suffering uncovers itself as "our hands were peppered/ with thorn pricks, our palms sticky as Bluebeard's" (15–16). After an...show more content...

In the first simile, humans maintain a higher standard "like thickened wine"(6). Wine represents what the people of higher class indulge themselves in. The people who drink wine usually do not suffer and enjoy life. When a person's status burns down as a result of suffering, the once sweet blackberries develop into "big dark blobs burned/ like a plate of eyes"(14–15). The simile the author uses indicates the guilt the eyes inflict on the cause of human suffering. The fine wine deteriorates to a plate of revolting eyes after Seamus Heaney's smile's comparison between blackberries and human suffering.. After the author's similes, the deeper meaning of human suffering becomes

Blackberry Picking

In the poem "Blackberry–Picking" by Seamus Heaney, the speaker tells us more than just a literal description of picking berries. The speaker shares with us a childhood experience he had. He shares his experience with the berries, the desire and disappointment they brought him as a kid. The speaker uses elements like imagery, simile and diction to share his experience. The speaker uses simile to tell us how rich in flavor the berries he'd pick were. In–line five he states "it's flash was sweet like thickened wine; summer's blood was in it. "The speaker uses this simile to share on how tasteful the berry skin was. In line 15 the speakers how the berries were organized in the cans, the nice ripped ones were on top and the bottom green ones on the bottom. The author shares it by comparing the nice big ripped ones. He states " on top big clark blobs burned like a plate of exes." In line 16 he tells us how sticky his hands would be after picking he states "our palms as sticky as Bluebeard" which he tells to not just show how their hands would be but to described life for what's to come next. ...show more content...

In lines 5–7 the speakers shares with us his desire or "lust" for the berries excitement he has for them.The speaker state "leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for pickings."The speaker than The speaker than uses the imagery to describe why he has that excitement". At first, just one, a glossy purple clot" to share how ripped and ready he was for them. In the end the speaker describes one of the biggest lessons he like all of us had experience in our childhood, disappointment. He describes how rotten the berries became in line 17–20 and shares how he wanted to cry in the end. In lines 17 to 20 he states "a rat–grey fungus, glutting on our cache. The juice was stinking too."he also shows how even though he knows they'll go bad he still has

Blackberry Picking

The poem "Blackberry–Picking" by Seamus Heaney is about blackberry picking but with a deeper meaning. The diction contains sweet words that stand for the good things in life and also negative words that mean the challenges in life to get the sweet blackberries. The whole poem has a tonal shift that goes from positive to negative. First, words like, "glossy purple clot," create imagery and pictures in a reader's head (line 3). Words like these enforce a good feeling. Along with other words, these also create a positive tone. They also show the deeper meaning. At first, the author is excited and happy to go blackberry picking. All is good in his life. He gets all geared up and gathers all the pails and buckets so he can carry all he

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Blackberry Picking Figurative Language

In Blackberry–Picking, describes not only a literal experience of blackberry picking, but of a love that always seems to end in tears. The poet achieves this meaning through diction, imagery, and figurative language. Heaney first creates a vivid image through descriptive words given such as "a glossy purple clot" and "wet grass bleached our boots." It is clear to the reader that the speaker and the speaker's partner seem to have a romantic or deep connection similar to the experience of blackberry picking. Seamus Heaney uses imagery and diction to create the image and shape the meaning of this love. Second, Heaney uses figurative language like simile and metaphor to compare the speaker's love to the blackberry picking process. Heaney uses

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Blackberry–Picking Essay Have you ever eaten a nice, fresh, juicy blackberry? If not you're missing out! In the poem "Blackberry–Picking" the author not only gives the readers a vivid picture, but also a description on how the life and death process goes when it comes to blackberries. The poem shows us the process from picking until the blackberries are fermented. Some of the elements displayed in this poem were imagery, diction, and ethos. These elements were three devices that help get the point across. "But when the bath was filled we found a fur, A rat–grey fungus" was a quotation from the text that put a vivid description of how the blackberries looked during this point and time. Along with the quote "The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh

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Seamus Heaney's poem "Blackberry–Picking", conveys not only a literal description of picking blackberries, but it also has a deeper meaning of the whole experience and that is death. Heaney uses simile, imagery, and tone to reveal the deeper understanding, which is death, to the poem.

As Heaney mentions his hands being dirty and sticky from picking out many blackberries, he uses simile to compare his sticky hands to Bluebeard's. "Our palms sticky hands as Bluebeard's". Bluebeard is a character (fictional) who murdered his wives, how can Heaney compare his "sticky" palms with a murderer. Heaney compares his hands to a murderer which first gives the idea of death. Heaney is Bluebeard (not literally).

He also introduces death to the poem by...show more content... He states "I always felt like crying. It wasn't fair that all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot. Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew try would not", the tone is disappointment. He had hope of the fruit staying sweet and fresh for a very long time but knew that that would be impossible. After going through so much, picking the berries, he always finds himself with rotten berries. Death, in general, can disappoint you because you can just hope that death doesn't come by when we all know that it will.

To conclusion, Heaney reveals death in this poem by using simile, imagery, and tone. the berries represent death as they go through the cycle of being fresh to being rotten. First, Heaney represents death by comparing his hands to a character, Bluebeard, for ripping out the berries from the bushes and having his hands all dirty and sticky from the hard work. Then, he uses imagery to describe how the fruit changed by rotting. Lastly, he uses tone by revealing how disappointed he was of seeing the fresh sweet berries turn into old sour berries that were no longer fresh. Although he has hope, he finds himself apprehensive about the berries going to waist and knows that the life cycle will never change and that it will never be

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A Blackberry–Picking is a poem about a person going to pick and eat blackberries. The poem starts off as a person lusting over the berries. Then you start to notice to get the berries the person have to work their way to them, getting scratched and their boots getting bleached. Once he/she arrives at the berries he/she starts to notice they are starting to ferment and turn sour. He/she knows this will keep happening but nevertheless he /she continues this cycle. In the poem Blackberry– Picking, by Seamus Heaney, portrays desire as sweet flesh that is longed for would turn sour once reality strikes by using terminology to emphasize the feeling and imagery used towards the berries or desire, Heaney also uses similes to further portray the passion and lusting towards desire; therefore portraying desire can have a sweet and warm feeling but it will always fade and turn sour and the cycle will continue to repeat itself. In lines 1–8 Heaney uses imagery such as " glossy purple coat" to help[ paint a picture of beautiful, rip, shiny blackberries; thus representing...show more content... Heaney uses the phrase "rat–grey fungus" to describe the leftover berry and the feelings for the barry. After a while the once wanted becomes unwanted therefore becomes "fermented" or "sour". The word "hoarded" is also used by Heaney to open our eyes up and realize how greedy and pirate like people become; due to this the once desired becomes rotten and broken. "Sticky as Bluebeard's" is Heaney's way of saying how people are pirates when it comes to greed or everyone's desire. The poem continues and says how they "feel like crying" after the berries become atrocious and how it "wasn't fair" that they couldn't keep the berries forever; thus demonstrating even though the desires we crave have become sour and painful, we still don't want them to

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Analysis

of Blackberry

Picking by Seamus Heaney

Once the reader can passes up the surface meaning of the poem Blackberry–Picking, by Seamus Heaney, past the emotional switch from sheer joy to utter disappointment, past the childhood memories, the underlying meaning can be quite disturbing. Hidden deep within the happy–go–lucky rifts of childhood is a disturbing tale of greed and murder. Seamus Heaney, through clever diction, ghastly imagery, misguided metaphors and abruptly changing forms, ingeniously tells the tale that is understood and rarely spoken aloud. Seamus Heaney refers to Bluebeard at the end of stanza one. Bluebeard, according to the footnote, is a character in a fairy tale who murders his wives. Why on earth would...show more content... Realizing unconsciously seems like an oxymoron, but the speaker does not consciously realize the horrors of his actions, while deep down understands what he has done. The speaker's extreme joy from hording all the delicious blackberries turns into horror upon witnessing their fermentation (2nd stanza). The speaker realizes that all good things must come to an end. He knows that, out of his greed, he has murdered these blackberries, made then ferment and caused them to loose their succulent appeal.

At first glance this poem seems a happy tale of childhood. These are memories that make the heart smile. Images of heavy summer storms full of rain, alternating with bright, joyous sunshine, full bushels of blackberries waiting to be picked; these are images most can relate with. The reader can taste the bitter–sweetness of the summer's first blackberry, feel the scratch of briars against their own skin, sense the excitement and butterflies in their own stomachs as they race to gather all the wondrous blackberries they can, followed by the anger and the disappointment when the blackberries rot and ferment before the readers' eyes. However, if the reader were to take the diction and imagery quite literally, a somewhat different picture is aroused. "...a glossy purple clot..." (line 3) describing the first ripened blackberry, brings to mind the picture of a nasty blood clot in someone's veins, why would Heaney compare blackberries to blood clots?

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Blackberry Picking

Blackberry picking is about greed, growing up, how we struggle in life and how pleasure can be taken away from us very quickly. Heaney writes retrospectively, about the times he as a child would go blackberry–picking every year, as a metaphor for these experiences.

The first stanza of the poem is mostly quite positive and enthusiastic. The first part of the stanza describes the the ripening of the berries, "given heavy rain and sun for a full week, the blackberries would ripen". He also gives us an image of the berries.

Heaney uses the metaphor "a glossy purple clot" for the ripe berries, and the similie "hard as a knot" for the unripe berries. When you say "hard as a knot", the sound is quite short,...show more content...

This is implying that nature is going against the children and fighting back, using the briars and wet grass to bleach and scratch their boots, as trying to stop the children from raping and pillaging the berries away from it.

The children even took berries that were unripe, "With green ones".

This heavily suggests greed, as they are even hoarding the berries that aren't ripe yet. "On top big dark blobs burned like a plate of eyes", the use of the word "burned" is suggesting pain, torment and hell felt by the berries, also it is as if the berries are accusing the children of murder, watching them like a plate of eyes. You know that the children feel a sense of guilt after picking so many berries, after their hands are full of thorn pricks and stained with berry juice. "palms sticky as Bluebeard's" – this reference to Bluebeard says that their hands are covered in berry juice, like blood, as Bluebeard had with the blood of his wives.

The second stanza describes how the berries die and rot, "lovely canfuls smelt of rot". The "rat–grey fungus" had consumed the berries, and "summer's blood" had turned into stinking juice. You can feel the disappointment– "I always felt like crying. It wasn't fair", you can tell this is the voice of a child. There is also a contrast of a adults view in the last line. "Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew they would not", this is also ironic,