The Haw Lantern

The Haw Lantern

First edition
Author Seamus Heaney
Language English
Publisher Faber and Faber
Publication date
 1987
Media type Print
Pages 64 pp
ISBN 9780571232871
Preceded by Station Island
Followed by Seeing Things

The Haw Lantern (1987) is a collection of poems written by Irish poet Seamus Heaney, the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995. Several of the poems—including the sonnet cycle "Clearances"—explore themes of mortality and loss inspired by the death of his mother, Margaret Kathleen Heaney (the "M.K.H." referenced in the dedication to "Clearances"), who died in 1984.

Several critics have remarked that the poems contained in The Haw Lantern are among Heaney's most abstract, and here he seems to lack the poetic precision and incisive attention to detail that he displayed in previous collections Wintering Out and North.

The title of the collection refers to the haw fruit. The fruit is an important symbol of defiance against winter, a symbol of, the dignity of the Northern Irish in the face of violence and trouble, and offering a small piece of light and hope in the darkness. The image of the lantern evoked by the title is a reference to the traditional account of the Greek cynic philosopher Diogenes of Sinope. According to the story, Diogenes carried a lantern through the streets in search of an honest man in the light. The implication is that there is little hope of finding an honest man, especially in the dire political situation in Northern Ireland at that time.

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