Field Work (1979)

by Seamus Heaney

Fieldwork is an exemplary poetic work on the depiction of loss, sorrow, and violence in political turmoil in a land where people are struggling to defend their legitimate rights of ownership. Since Northern Ireland was in great trouble when Heaney was writing his poetic collection and he also experienced loose of his two dear ones; he also added two elegies in his collection, The Strand at Lough Beg and Casualty, the former written on the death of his cousin and the later on the death of his friend after the strike on Bloody Sunday event. 

Utilizing personal losses and the unrest in the region in his poetry, Heaney showed his contribution to affirm the change that poetry makes in settling down the emotions of people and to have an unpolitical change but have enough power to create a popular opinion in the society.