“Funeral Rites: Key Quotes”

Nostalgia of Past

“When you died, they laid you out in a four foot box,”: This quote signifies a departure from the ancient traditions, highlighting the reality of modernity and the poet’s distancing from his cultural tradition, using second-person narrative to underscore the personal connection.
“In the pre-war photo of my mother,”: Using a personal family portrayal, Heaney emphasises the significance of family and past, linking tradition to personal memory.

“Sky-blue slates of the stack”: This quote provides a vivid description of the Irish tradition of keeping a neat pile of funeral stones or slates, a symbol of well-established funeral rites within the community.
“It’s summer, The long grass is a snare drum,”: The vivid imagery introduces the traditional wake scene and the beginning of the ritualistic practices.
“I would scoop up coarse lumps and beat them with a stick To pure white drops”: Graphic depiction of ritualistic actions in preparing for the burial further expresses Heaney’s profound attachment to ritual.

“Then, then, a **wave, a wafting, yet a coming home”: With this quote, Heaney emphasizes the transformation from fear and suffering to acceptance and peace. It’s a realisation that the process of death is a natural cycle.
“Now it’s high watermark and the **wod is hushed”: This quote marks the shift from bereavement to acceptance. It’s the moment of stillness and reflection when the turbulence of the waters – grief, beliefs, struggle - come to a halt.

“Earthworms Silverslick in the turned up clods”: By drawing a parallel between the human burial ritual and the life of earthworms, Heaney creates a link between the natural and human worlds.
“The stick taps, the dark recedes,”: These lines reference the Scandinavian death ritual of ship burials, signifying the end of the physical journey and the beginning of the spiritual one. Nature serves as a medium in this spiritual journey.