Blackberry+Picking

Listen to Heaney reading the poem: []

__THE POEM:__
Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it 5 Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for Picking. Then red ones inked up and that hunger Sent us out with milk cans, pea tins, jam pots Where briars scratched and wet grass bleached our boots. Round hayfields, cornfields and potato drills 10 We trekked and picked until the cans were full. Until the tinkling bottom had been covered With green ones, and on top big dark blobs burned Like a plate of eyes. Our hands were peppered With thorn pricks, our palms sticky as Bluebeard's. 15 We hoarded the fresh berries in the byre.

But when the bath was filled we found a fur, A rat-grey fungus, glutting on our cache. The juice was stinking too. Once off the bush The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour. 20 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 they would not.

**Overview:** This is one of Heaney's poems that centres on memories of his childhood, growing up on a farm in the Irish countryside. Here he recalls the experience of blackberry picking in late summer, around August. Some critics say that it is the simple description of the act of blackberry picking, but when put together with the other poems in the collection, many say it more symbolic, a comment on the nature of life . It combines the nostalgia of the past with the reality of growing up .

There is one long stanza describing the action, and then the second shorter one that describes the aftermath  of the blackberry picking, the passing of time . The rotting of the fruit metaphorically symbolises the souring experience of reality and loss of innocence. Comment on the significance of the length of the stanzas  The first stanza is childlike and joyfulThe tone turns from excited, exploring, wondrous to one of disgust, disillusionment and sadness. Emphasises the change in time and the language. First person point of view.
 * Structure:**

Written in free verse as it is from the perspective of an adult recollecting his childhood memory. Accentuated by the use of enjambment to show the free thoughts. There seems to be no proper rhyme structure, with a few rhymes and half rhymes, dispersed throughout.  (examples and effects?)
 * Rhyme and Rhythm:**


 * The analysis that you have provided is too brief and needs a more detailed approach. Try to organise this topic wise **
 * Description of the berries
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Childlike diction juxtaposed with adult imagery (undertones of sexuality). Bluebeard allusion needs to be explained in detail
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Use of verbs to show the activity
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Abundance versus the decay
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Use of assonance, plosives and fricatives to create aural imagery
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Use of enjambment to show the circuitous trek
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Use of colours to bring the experience to life
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Children's greed.

First Stanza:
 * the berries can be taken to symbolize memories
 * the memories can be made by slowly developing them --> slowly ripen
 * each leave a different mark on us --> red, green, purple; stains,lust, scratched, bleach --> each represent an emotion
 * we have to persevere for them --> trekked, picked, summer's blood in berries
 * we do it our entire life --> cans are full
 * each of us respond differently --> milk cans, pea tins, jam pots
 * as we grow older, we lose our naivety and innocence and our memories, choices and actions become harsher --> thorn, Bluebeard
 * colour - bright and different first, to show excitement and beginning - green eyes, dark blobs, disillusionment
 * lust --> human nature when growing up --> never satisfied.


 * <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px;"> Religious imagery / allusion(?):**
 * <span style="color: #111111; font-family: Verdana,Tahoma,'Arial Unicode MS',sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">"thickened wine" --> the wine in Last supper.
 * <span style="color: #111111; font-family: Verdana,Tahoma,'Arial Unicode MS',sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">lust --> the seven deadly sins. This implies that the act of blackberry picking may not be as innocent or childlike as it seems. Again tying with maturity and Nature's alter ego.
 * <span style="color: #111111; font-family: Verdana,Tahoma,'Arial Unicode MS',sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">"With thorn pricks" --> the crown of thorn worn by Jesus. This may imply the suffering that will befall later due to greed. Foreshadows second stanza.
 * <span style="color: #111111; font-family: Verdana,Tahoma,'Arial Unicode MS',sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Bluebeard --> he was a murderer, and calling the picker that implies that he is comminting a scene. Also conveys that the blackberries are victims.
 * <span style="color: #111111; font-family: Verdana,Tahoma,'Arial Unicode MS',sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Thus taking the simple act of blackberry picking to be of a moral nature.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">**Second Stanza:**
 * "rat - grey", "fungus", "stinking" describing the changes fruit goes through when left, it ferments
 * berries can be taken to be memories, both happy and sad. when experienced, or plucked, they slowly rot in the mind and even the happiest ones, with the sweetest flesh, turn sour.
 * They also seem to fade away
 * crying symbolises regret over the wrong doings, and the sadness experienced from the happy ones.
 * Even though one wishes that the happy memories, and the others remain in our mind, they always rot. But still one hopes each year they'd keep.


 * Change in view of the act of blackberry picking:**
 * word choice like "glossy", "lust" compared to "rat-grey", "fungus", "stinking"
 * use of "But", reiterates turning point and flaw or hidden fact of the act is to be revealed.
 * <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">The tone turns from excited, exploring, wonderous to disgusted, disillusioned and sad.

There is even a parallel in the structure of the two poems with the extended first stanza followed by a more compact second one that describes a change, the moment of disillusion and disgust. This is clearly marked by the 'But'
 * Cross Reference:** It can be compared to 'Death of a Naturalist'. Both of them centre on childhood memories that begin as innocent, pleasurable experiences rooted in nature, but both end in disillusionment. The personas mature during the course of both these poems. They both convey that nature's beauty and sweetness do not endure. The desire for the experience ends in revulsion.