Osip Mandelstam in the Poetry and Prose of Seamus Heaney

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Abstract:

The article focuses on the influence the figure of the Russian poet Osip Mandelstam had on the poetry and prose of Seamus Heaney, who is often considered to be the greatest Irish poet since W. B. Yeats. It presents an analysis of Heaney’s poems and essays dedicated to the Russian poet and tries to define the role Mandelstam played in the development of Heaney’s poetic system, his philosophy and principles. The article aims to show how Heaney’s perception of Mandelstam changed through time by looking at the poems from his early and later poetry collections as well as by analysing his prose works included in his collections of essays such as “Preoccupations”, “Finders Keepers” and “The Government of the Tongue”. The article not only reveals Heaney’s attitude towards Mandelstam, but also helps to get a deeper understanding of the impact Mandelstam has had on contemporary Irish poetry.

References:

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