Helen Vendler

A dazzling short assessment of the life and work of the poet and winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize for literature. Among Heaney's many published collections are 'Death of a Naturalist', 'North', 'Field Work', 'Station Island' and 'Spirit Level' (May 1996), which was that rarest of things: a collection of poetry that was also a bestseller. Yet despite his popularity, Heaney's poetry can be difficult and intractable, not least because it is linked to two...