Fear in Childhood - Heaney and Montague
Heaney and Montague both write about fear in childhood. Compare and contrast two poems, one by each poet, taking account of the methods which each poet uses to write about fear in childhood.
‘The Barn’ by Seamus Heaney and ‘Like Dolmens Round my Childhood, the Old People’ by John Montague are two poems that explore the theme of fear in childhood. The fears of each poet are very different in that Heaney’s fear of the barn is triggered by his vivid imagination whereas Montague’s fear of becoming like ‘the old people’ is a much more complex and emotional issue that relates to real life experiences. Furthermore, the idea of fear in childhood is clear from the beginning in ‘The Barn’ and Heaney uses progression in his poem to build on these childhood fears. In contrast, it is only at the end of ‘Like Dolmens Round my Childhood’ that the reader becomes aware that Montague’s fear was ending up like the elderly people he knew as a child.
Both poems are well structured; ‘The Barn’ consists of five stanzas with four lines per stanza and ‘Like Dolmens Round my Childhood’ is made up of seven stanzas with seven lines per stanza. The number seven is significant as it refers to the ‘perfect number’ and this tie into the subject matter at the end of Montague’s poem. Unlike ‘The Barn’, ‘Like Dolmens Round my Childhood’ contains two lines, one at the beginning and one at the end, which acts as a framework around the poem. Moreover, ‘Like Dolmens Round my Childhood’ is longer that ‘The Barn’. Whereas Heaney develops the story in ‘The Barn’ with each stanza, Montague uses each stanza to focus on a completely different story or issue. Both poems use alternate rhyme; Heaney uses half-rhyme in ‘The Barn’ and in ‘Like Dolmens Round my Childhood’ occasional rhyme is used to emphasise key words such as ‘cried’ and ‘deride’. ‘The Barn’ is written from the perspective of Heaney as a child. On the other hand, ‘Like Dolmens Round my Childhood’ is a reflective poem in which an adult Montague
‘The Barn’ by Seamus Heaney and ‘Like Dolmens Round my Childhood, the Old People’ by John Montague are two poems that explore the theme of fear in childhood. The fears of each poet are very different in that Heaney’s fear of the barn is triggered by his vivid imagination whereas Montague’s fear of becoming like ‘the old people’ is a much more complex and emotional issue that relates to real life experiences. Furthermore, the idea of fear in childhood is clear from the beginning in ‘The Barn’ and Heaney uses progression in his poem to build on these childhood fears. In contrast, it is only at the end of ‘Like Dolmens Round my Childhood’ that the reader becomes aware that Montague’s fear was ending up like the elderly people he knew as a child.
Both poems are well structured; ‘The Barn’ consists of five stanzas with four lines per stanza and ‘Like Dolmens Round my Childhood’ is made up of seven stanzas with seven lines per stanza. The number seven is significant as it refers to the ‘perfect number’ and this tie into the subject matter at the end of Montague’s poem. Unlike ‘The Barn’, ‘Like Dolmens Round my Childhood’ contains two lines, one at the beginning and one at the end, which acts as a framework around the poem. Moreover, ‘Like Dolmens Round my Childhood’ is longer that ‘The Barn’. Whereas Heaney develops the story in ‘The Barn’ with each stanza, Montague uses each stanza to focus on a completely different story or issue. Both poems use alternate rhyme; Heaney uses half-rhyme in ‘The Barn’ and in ‘Like Dolmens Round my Childhood’ occasional rhyme is used to emphasise key words such as ‘cried’ and ‘deride’. ‘The Barn’ is written from the perspective of Heaney as a child. On the other hand, ‘Like Dolmens Round my Childhood’ is a reflective poem in which an adult Montague