Analysis of the Poem 'Punishment' by Seamus Heaney

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Andrew Spacey

Seamus Heaney's 'Punishment' Poem Summary

'Punishment' is one of Seamus Heaney's poems that explores the nature of violence and
revenge within society. It was first published in the book North in 1975.

How the Roman Empire Influenced Britain

It focuses specifically on a body that has been buried in a peat bog for around 2000 years.
When Heaney wrote the poem, the body – known as the Windeby Girl, dug up in 1952 in
Germany – was thought to have been ritually killed. Her hair had been shaved, a band
covered her eyes and a halter (rope) was tight around her neck.

Interpreting the Message Beyond Historical Accuracy

In the poem, the speaker refers to the bog body as an 'adulteress' who was killed for
breaking the tribal law.

Subsequent investigation with cutting-edge technology has shown that the body is actually
that of a teenage boy, the lack of hair on one side of the head thought to have been caused
by uneven exposure to tannic acid, the preservative in peat bogs.

These discrepancies don't detract from the overall theme of the poem, which stands by itself:
the punishments we humans hand out when individuals break the taboo or cross the red line.

Heany's Emotional Connection to the Body

Heaney was captivated by the visual spectacle of the bog body:

My emotions, my feelings, whatever those instinctive energies are that have to be

engaged for a poem, those energies quickened more when contemplating a victim,
strangely, from 2000 years ago...

And it was in these victims made strangely beautiful by the process of lying in bogs
that somehow I felt I could make offerings or images that were emblems.

The poet was clearly moved by the idea that a young person from the Iron Age, preserved
remarkably well in peat, could have been the victim of a tribal ritual, for the transgression of
an unwritten law.

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Comparing Female Oppression in Different Times
Heaney uses the bog in a metaphorical sense and parallels the death of the bog person
(who he took to be female) with the punishments handed out to modern girls by the IRA (Irish
Republican Army) during the Troubles in his native Northern Ireland.

These girls were shaved, stripped, covered in tar and feathers and tied to railings in Belfast
for being too friendly to British troops.

The speaker in the poem confesses to not being able to do anything to help. All he can do is
watch, the 'artful voyeur', as well as understand why the punishments were meted out in the
first place.

What Are the Themes of 'Punishment'?

Corporal and Capital Punishment

The Rule of Law and the Role of the Female

Historical Parallels With Modern Issues

Art and the Law

Political, Religious and Societal Issues

'Punishment'
I can feel the tug
of the halter at the nape
of her neck, the wind
on her naked front.

It blows her nipples

to amber beads,
it shakes the frail rigging
of her ribs.

I can see her drowned

body in the bog,
the weighing stone,
the floating rods and boughs.

Under which at first

she was a barked sapling
that is dug up

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oak-bone, brain-firkin:

her shaved head

like a stubble of black corn,
her blindfold a soiled bandage,
her noose a ring

to store
the memories of love.
Little adulteress,
before they punished you

you were flaxen-haired,

undernourished, and your
tar-black face was beautiful.
My poor scapegoat,

I almost love you

but would have cast, I know,
the stones of silence.
I am the artful voyeur

of your brain’s exposed

and darkened combs,
your muscles’ webbing
and all your numbered bones:

I who have stood dumb

when your betraying sisters,
cauled in tar,
wept by the railings,

who would connive

in civilized outrage
yet understand the exact
and tribal, intimate revenge.

Stanza by Stanza Analysis

Stanza 1

'Punishment' begins with the first person I, taking the reader immediately into the personal
and tactile world of the speaker. That verb to feel reflects the sensitive nature of the speaker
as he observes the preserved body from the peat bog, bringing it temporarily to life as he

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imagines the living girl that once was.

The halter (strap or rope) tugs at the nape (back of the neck) as she is led naked to the bog.
There's a wind blowing.

Note the enjambment in this first stanza, allowing the sense to flow from line to line in a
controlled manner. Short lines always slow a poem down because they're more challenging
to navigate and the line breaks have to be approached carefully.

Stanza 2

The wind affects her nipples, they become beads – a reference to jewellery – and her ribs
are rigging, relating to the system of ropes that support the masts and sails of a ship. It's
more the visual effect of the ribs under her skin; they are described as frail as the wind blasts
against the girl.

Basically, she is seen as vulnerable.

Again, enjambment plays a role in allowing the flow, paused by a single comma at the end of
line six. It's this precise placement of punctuation and use of enjambment that sets the initial
pace.

Stanza 3

Now the girl is drowned, the narrative moving on. There's a weighing stone to make sure she
stays underwater and also rods and boughs. These kinds of things were actually found at
some bog body recoveries. It seems that the Iron Age people wanted to be certain that the
bodies remained where they were placed.

It's important to note the gradual uses of punctuation and enjambment the poet
employs. All three lines flowing in the first stanza, then two lines enjambed, then only
one line. This is a careful syntactical slowing down of proceedings.

Stanza 4

The girl has now been dug up. Metaphorically she was a barked sapling, that is, young and
supple, covered in bark (think skin), but now she is a tough and seasoned oak-bone, brain-
firkin.

Oak is hardwood, bone is bone. Together, they are a single idea. Her bones remind the
speaker of oak.

A firkin is a small cask with a specific measurement by volume for ale or beer. So the bog-girl
being dug up has a brain that reminds the speaker of this wooden cask.

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Stanza 5

The speaker progresses with more descriptive language of the girl's head – like corn stubble,
blackened by age. This simile connects the girl to the land through the idea of a field within a
bigger landscape.

The blindfold is a soiled bandage, that is, material to help heal a wound. By using the word
bandage, the poet is attempting to show empathy with the victim.

And finally, the noose (presumably used to hang or strangle her) becomes a metaphorical
ring – a symbol of trust and love – within which she can keep her memories.

Note the enjambment between stanzas, keeping the sense on the move.

Stanza 6

Up to this point, the speaker's approach has been relatively distanced, despite the first-
person perspective. In this stanza, however, the speaker changes tack and starts to address
the girl directly as 'you'.

This further animates the relationship the speaker has with the bog body and breathes some
life into the poem.

Enjambment between stanzas occurs for the second time.

Stanza 7

The speaker imagines the living girl and turns her into a beautiful human being. Flaxen
means pale yellow in colour which contrasts severely with the tar-black face.

My poor scapegoat, reinforces the speaker's sympathy for the girl. A scapegoat is someone
who gets the blame for what others have done. It can be found in the Bible, where a goat
was sent out into the desert after a priest laid the sins of the p people upon it (Leviticus 16).

Stanza 8

So the speaker is suggesting that the bog girl maybe wasn't 100% guilty; that she was
punished because the tribal elders needed to make an example of her. Because of this, the
speaker expresses near love for the young female but confesses that had he been present at
her execution, he probably wouldn't have said anything or gone against the decision.

His silence would have been the equivalent of stoning – again a biblical punishment for those
deemed guilty of adultery.

He is nothing but an artful voyeur looking on in the hope that something creative might
emerge. This is quite an admission, turning the artist into a kind of mercenary.

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Stanza 9

He's looking at the brain again, how its dark combs impress (combs are cellular structures,
as found in a hive for example). This is a close-up inspection - we move on to the muscles
and the numbered bones, set out in the museum case no doubt.

Stanza 10
The confession continues and now moves on into the modern era, when British soldiers were
on the streets of Belfast and the IRA and Loyalist Paramilitaries were killing each other with
bullets and bombs.

Heaney, a minority Catholic, born in Northern Ireland, was caught in between. As a poet and
artist, he had to navigate his way through the sectarian troubles as they raged on through the
latter part of the 20th century.

The betraying sisters are the modern girls who get punished for keeping the company of
British soldiers. They are equivalents to the bog girl; they suffer similar punishments, yet are
spared their lives.

The speaker remains dumb as these atrocities are carried out, but is outraged - albeit in a
conniving fashion, that is he secretly allows something bad to happen.

Cauled is based on caul which is a woman's headdress, or a membrane at birth which

covers the infant's head.

Stanza 11

The speaker owns up - he says nothing, does nothing, but gets why the 'tribe' has to carry
out the acts of revenge. It's the tribe's way of keeping control, keeping the power.

What Are the Structure/Form and Metre?

Punishment is a free verse poem of 11 stanzas, each stanza having four short lines, making
a total of 44 lines.

There is no set rhyme scheme and no regular metrical beat, though there are lines with
obvious anapaestic feet, that is, a dadaDUM dadaDUM rhythmic stress, as in lines 2, 3 and
4:

of the halt / er at the nape

of her neck, / the wind

on her nak / ed front.

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Rhythmic Diversity

Iambic and trochaic feet are also common but don't fall into regular consistent beats.

Overall then, it's an iambic poem when it comes to beat, but the short lines and alternative
feet help vary the way the stresses are read, which has to be slowly.

Literary/Poetic Devices Used

Alliteration: When two or more words close to in a line or lines begin with the same
consonant, producing a texture and added interest for the reader. For example:

nape/of her neck

rigging/of her ribs

body in the bog

oak-bone, brain-firkin

blindfold a soiled bandage

the stones of silence

who would connive

Assonance: When two or more words close to in a line or lines have similar-sounding
vowels. This together with alliteration adds depth and colour to the sounds, often
complimenting meaning. For example:

body in the bog

that is dug up

shakes the frail

stone,/the floating

oak-bone

to store/the memories

Enjambment: When a line runs on into the next without punctuation but keeps the
sense/meaning, it is said to be enjambed. It can also occur between stanzas. For example:

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 her shaved head

like a stubble of black corn,

her blindfold a soiled bandage,

her noose a ring

to store

the memories of love.

Internal Rhyme: Look out for words that resonate within stanzas, both displaying assonance
and sound echo:

nape/neck/naked

nipples/rigging/ribs

body/bog/rods/barked/oak-bone/brain-firkin

her/head

black/blindfold/bandage

your/poor

exposed/combs/bone

betraying/railings

connive/civilised

Metaphor: A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase 'becomes' something

else – an object, person, phenomenon or event. It is used to broaden and deepen
understanding through imagery and contrast. For example:

Under which at first

she was a barked sapling

Simile: A comparison of two things which usually involves the conjunction 'like'. For
example:

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 he shaved head

like a stubble of black corn,

Sources
The Poetry Handbook, John Lennard, OUP, 2005

Norton Anthology, Norton, 2005

www.jstor.org

100 Essential Modern Poems, Ivan Dee, Joseph Parisi, 2005

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