Poem, For Marie, analysis.

Links into coursework titles for: Innocence and experience, identity, influence of parental
figures (Marie replaces Heaney’s parents as the ‘authority figure’).

Context:
Heaney married Marie Devlin in 1965. Heaney and Marie met at a dinner at Queen's
University Belfast when they were both students in 1962. After their first date, Heaney wrote
‘Twice shy’ for her.
Other sources do suggest they met whilst Heaney was teaching at St.Joseph’s; but an
interview with Marie confirms it was at a dinner for the University.

Analysis of the poem:

1st Stanza: Heaney begins by addressing Marie “Love, I shall perfect for you the child who
diligently potters in my brain”. The idea of “perfecting” his child self for Marie illustrates how
Heaney is still in touch with who he was as a child, the ‘child version’ of Heaney; he still
carries his childhood shortcomings with him. Furthermore, the verb “potters” gives the
impression that this childhood self has no purpose to Heaney’s current self.

Second stanza: This stanza is only really relevant when compared to This Boy's life; Heaney
discusses the activities he would carry out as a child. This involves sowing the garden and
stripping “a layer of sod to build the wall that was to exclude sow and pecking hen”. This
shows that as a child, Heaney was full of ambition and purpose but equally there is a cultural
disconnect between child Heaney and child Jack. Unlike Jack, Heaney is entertained by
‘mundane’ activities that are almost akin to the husking of the chestnuts, both being manual
labour. In comparison to Jack, Heaney is able to entertain himself more easily; there are less
‘modern’ resources available to him.
End of Second stanza: The failure of childhood ambitions “yearly, admitting these, the sods
would fall”. Much like Jack, who once planned to escape to Antarctica with his friend from
Boy Scouts, Heaney fails to achieve his ambition.

Third Stanza: This stanza juxtaposes the impression that we get of Heaney as a child from
the other poems. In the other poems, we get the impression that Heaney was a diligent, well-
rounded and well-behaved child. This stanza addresses’ the more ‘juvenile delinquent’ parts
of his child self: “I would splash delightedly and dam the flowing drain”. This idea of
deliberately seeking to cause mayhem and delighting in your own misdemeanours, is
reminiscent of Jack and his friends throwing eggs from the apartment rooftop. Both these
acts are meaningless and only seek to aggravate others.

Third Stanza: This last stanza really highlights Heaney’s intentions for the poem: “Love, you
shall perfect for me this child”. There is a direct link to the beginning of the poem, in which
Heaney states “perfect for you” but now it becomes “perfect for me”. It feels as though Marie
has taken on the role Heaney once had to fulfil himself; outgrowing the child within him.
End of the third stanza: “Within our walls now, within our golden ring”. Here, Heaney
presents marriage as giving him a new sense of direction in his life; marriage is a form of
rebirth. Furthermore, the idea of “our walls” symbolises how marriage is about shaping a
new life together.

The message of the poem:

Heaney wants to redirect his focus onto his marriage with Marie, through his relationship
with her he hopes to outgrow the child version of himself that is still present in his thoughts.

Linking to This Boys life:

. Marie replaces Heaney’s parents as the main ‘authority figure’; she’s the person he wants
to go to for advice/help instead of his parents.
. Jack’s always looking for someone to be the ‘authority figure’ in his life; Geoffrey briefly
becomes this for him. Both Heaney and Jack are in the pursuit of someone to guide them
and give their lives direction; just at different times in their life.
. Both Jack and Heaney can address their childhood shortcomings in a thoughtful and
reflective way; both ‘acted out’ as children in order to get attention that they were perhaps
lacking from the parents around them (Heaney is one of nine children).