Seamus Heaney's A Mother In A Refugee Camp And Follower

The thematic dichotomy of power and powerlessness take many forms across a range of different poems that draw upon universal experiences as seen by the characters in “A Mother in a Refugee Camp” and “Follower”. They both emit the universal feeling of …; however, whilst one presents it as an empowering emotion, the mothers’ love can be considered as a cause of grief an suffering. By contrast, ”Ozymandias” explores a completely different form of power, that of excessive pride and vanity

Seamus Heaney’s “Follower” explores a power dynamic between different generations in a family, and different types of occupation, in its focus on the poet’s feelings towards his father as both a child and an adult. As a child, the poet is presented as being in awe of his father’s power and expertise, and a wanting to follow in his footsteps. However, as an adult, the pet has chosen to work in the field of poetry, not agriculture, thus rejecting his father’s influence.

The use of simple lexis in the declarative statement “My father worked with a horse-plough”, establishes the hard manual occupation of the father which is often devalued. However, the figurative description of “His shoulders globed like a full sail strung”, which immediately follows, re-empowers the father. The metaphor “globed” indicates both his physical strength, an effect heightened by the elongated vowel sound and the plosive, and may suggest an mythological allusion to the Titan Atlas who bears the world on his shoulders. Therefore indicating the god-like status which the poet’s father had in his young son’s life. The fact that this power is not purely physical, but also intellectual, is highlighted by the foregrounded noun of “An expert” followed immediately by caesura to once again emphasise the carefulness and accuracy that the poet’s father has when working. Furthermore, the use of technical lexis such as