“Postscript: Key Quotes”

Form and Setting

“It is quick and surprising, riding”: The poem is written in one single long stanza, reflecting the continuous and uninterrupted journey described in the poem. The layout of the poem thereby reflects its content.

“On the wind… The surface of a slate-grey lake is lit…”: Heaney uses rich and colourful imagery throughout the poem, triggering sensory perceptions and emotions in the reader.
“You are neither here nor there, A hurry through which known and strange things pass”: The concept of transience and change is portrayed through this imagery, which creates an atmosphere of impermanence, suggesting that human experience is fleeting and constantly changing.

“Like a flock of swans…”: Heaney uses simile to create a vivid image of the waving fields, insisting on natural beauty and grandeur.
“As big soft buffetings come at the car sideways”: The metaphor presents wind as an active, powerful force affecting the observer’s experience, again emphasising the profound, unpredicted impact of nature.

“As if the earth had opened and the sky were a cataract…”: The dramatic imagery captures the awe-inspiring power of nature while inducing a sense of wonder and emotional exhilaration in readers.

“…flung spray hits…”: This phrase is an example of Heaney’s repeated use of alliteration, which adds to the rhythm and musicality of the poem, reinforcing the immersive effect for the reader.
“You are neither here nor there…”: The use of enjambment in such phrases intensifies the feeling of motion, mirroring the journey and rush of emotions experienced by the speaker in the poem.

“And catch the heart off guard and blow it open”: Heaney’s description seems to capture the essence of the Irish experience, highlighting the power of the landscape to evoke deeply personal, internal reactions and transformations. The phrase indicates the ability of sudden, unexpected experiences to reshape individual identity.