Door into the Dark

by Seamus Heaney

Genres: Poetry
Pages: 56
Rating:

Synopsis:

"Door into the Dark," Heaney's second collection of poems, first appeared in 1969. Already his widely celebrated gifts of precision, thoughtfulness, and musicality were everywhere apparent.

Seamus Heaney’s Door into the Dark was only his second collection, but his style is unmistakeable. I couldn’t pick a poem from this collection I especially liked as a stand-out, but they all have presence and demand attention: there’s something deliberate about every single word.

Which is not to say ponderous, to be clear — they’re all very readable and don’t drag on too long or anything like that! It just feels like every word and phrase is chosen to be impactful, to have weight.

Not a favourite collection, but it was worth the read.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)