Station Island (poetry)

"Station Island" (1984) is a collection of poems written by Irish Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney.

The title refers to Station Island in Donegal, Ireland, a famous site of pilgrimage from the Middle Ages to the present day. The collection is thematically concerned with the quest for self-identity, whether spiritual, socio-political, or vocational.

The second section, also entitled 'Station Island', is an autobiographical account of Heaney's second journey to the island. Here he considers the purpose and power of a poet's occupation, especially in regards to how he or she might speak to political issues- in his case, The Troubles in Northern Ireland in particular.

The third section, 'Sweeney Redivivus', was stimulated by Heaney's work on the medieval Irish poem "Buile Shuibhne" ('The Madness of Sweeney'), a translation of which he published under the title "Sweeney Astray" in 1983.

Contents

Part One

:The Underground:La Toilette :Sloe Gin:Away from it All:Chekhov on Sakhalin:Sandstone Keepsake:Shelf Life:A Migration :Last Look:Remembering Malibu:Making Strange:The Birthplace:Changes:An Ulster Twilight:A Bat on the Road:A Hazel Stick for Catherine Ann:A Kite for Michael and Christopher:The Railway Children:Sweetpea:An Aisling in the Burren:Widgeon:Sheelagh na Gig:The Loaning:The Sandpit:The King of the Ditchbacks

Part Two: Station Island

:Station Island

Part Three: Sweeney Redivivus

:The First Gloss:Sweeney Redivivus:Unwinding:In the Beech:The First Kingdom:The First Flight:Drifting Off:Alerted:The Cleric:The Hermit:The Master:The Scribes:A Waking Dream:In the Chestnut Tree:Sweeney's Returns:Holly:An Artist:The Old Icons:In Illo Tempore:On the Road