Lovers on Aran by Seamus Heaney

The timeless waves, bright, sifting, broken glass,
Came dazzling around, into the rocks,
Came glinting, sifting from the Americas

To posess Aran. Or did Aran rush
to throw wide arms of rock around a tide
That yielded with an ebb, with a soft crash?

Did sea define the land or land the sea?
Each drew new meaning from the waves' collision.
Sea broke on land to full identity.


so this his 2 b the shortest poem i've eva read by Heaney, but i really like it

though this is one of Heaney's shortest poems, it is one of his most meaningful and erotic. Heaney cr8s a "hidden message" of sex in his poem, Lovers on Aran though his use of diction, symbolism, and imagery.

the first, and most noticable is the diction. he uses a lot of naudical imagery like waves, rocks, and sea, these have a very calming effect and communicate a very serine feeling about the setting. the idea of the sea also gives us the idea that it is never ending and thus that love is never ending. the words timless, broken glass, dazzing, and sifting have a more corse, feeling to them and they communicate the idea of a harshness. this harshness is extended through the use of the crashing wave words. words like ebb, soft crash, waves' collision, throw, and broke all give us the idea of waves crashing onto the shore which help create the feeling of the deeper meaning offered within this poem.

next is the symbolism and imagery. the symbolism is found within the imagery of this poem. the images of the breaking waves, and the lovers on the beach of Aran cr8 the symbolism of this poem. the continuous image of waves breaking on the beach paired with the talk of possessing the island create the idea that the poem is about sex. dazzling around cr8s the idea of wooing or foreplay. throw wide arms cr8s the image of the lovers falling on2 the beach. the phrases soft crash, waves' collision, and sea broke all give the idea that the lovers are actually having sex. the line saying "did sea define the land or land the sea?" takes this idea further and we get the idea that he's asking the question did the sex begin in the love or did the love begin because of the sex.

these images are unprecedented in the poetry that we've read by Heaney. in his other poems he didn't talk about sex except for the idea that the girls shouldn't have engaged in sex with the british soldier or that there was a bad conntation to adultary. here he speaks about sex as a very passionate act.through these devices, we see that Heaney creates a ver erotic and sexual message about the island of Aran .