5089 - Poetry of Seamus Heaney: Making “Hope and History Rhyme”

Hybrid Course- In-Person | Registration opens 9/8/2026 10:00 AM EDT

N.A.
10/1/2026-10/22/2026
12:00 PM-1:30 PM EDT on Th
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$55.00

5089 - Poetry of Seamus Heaney: Making “Hope and History Rhyme”

Hybrid Course- In-Person | Registration opens 9/8/2026 10:00 AM EDT

This course will explore some of the best poems of Seamus Heaney (1939-2013), along with recordings and visuals. Heaney won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995 for “works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past.” Among the most beloved of modern poets, he was also among the most widely read in English following the publication of “Digging,” the first poem in his debut volume Death of a Naturalist.

In his writing, Heaney articulated the experience of his vivid childhood sensations on a farm in County Derry and explored political tensions in Northern Ireland, combining personal lyrics with public themes. His poetry expressed the brute realities of history but imagined a future when, as quoted by two U.S. presidents, “The longed-for tidal wave / Of justice can rise up, / And hope and history rhyme.”

For each class session, the instructor will suggest poems from Opened Ground: Selected Poems, 1966-1996, essential work from Heaney's previous books of poetry including the following:

  1. Death of a Naturalist (1966) and Door into the Dark (1969)
  2. Wintering Out (1972) and North (1975)
  3. Field Work (1976) and Station Island (1984)
  4. The Haw Lantern (1987), Seeing Things (1991) and The Spirit Level (1996)

  •   This is a hybrid course offered simultaneously virtually and in-person. Students registered for 5089 will attend in-person at George Mason University. Students registered for 5089v will attend virtually on Zoom.

    This course will be recorded, and registered participants will receive a link to access each recording within two business days after the session ends. The recordings will be available for viewing anytime until February 28, 2027. While the recordings are provided for convenience and to accommodate any scheduling conflicts, they are not intended to replace the benefits of attending in real time, where you can ask questions and participate in discussion
Christopher Griffin

Christopher Griffin studied literature at Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin. He taught courses in Irish literature and history at The George Washington University for eight years. Since 1992 he has taught many classes at Politics and Prose including Shakespeare, Wharton, James, Wilde, Yeats, Joyce, Kavanagh, Heaney and Tóibín. He has been a lecturer on Smithsonian Journeys and at Smithsonian Associates. He has reviewed theatre since the 1970s and written program notes for playbills, including for the Abbey Theatre. He introduced Heaney’s reading at the Folger Shakespeare Library in 1985.