Sweeney Astray
Encyclopedia
Sweeney Astray: A Version from the Irish is a version of the Irish
poem Buile Shuibhne
written by Seamus Heaney
and published in 1983. It is based on an earlier translation by J.G. O'Keeffe. Heaney's version was well received in many circles and, much like his later take on Beowulf
, has largely become the standard translation on college syllabi.
Book reviewer Ilana Teitelbaum writes:
The poem served as inspiration for a collection of photographs by Rachel Giese which was published, side by side with excerpts from the poem, under the title Sweeney's Flight
.
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
poem Buile Shuibhne
Buile Shuibhne
Buile Suibhne is the tale of Suibhne , a legendary king of Dál nAraidi in Ulster in Ireland...
written by Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer. He lives in Dublin. Heaney has received the Nobel Prize in Literature , the Golden Wreath of Poetry , T. S. Eliot Prize and two Whitbread prizes...
and published in 1983. It is based on an earlier translation by J.G. O'Keeffe. Heaney's version was well received in many circles and, much like his later take on Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
, has largely become the standard translation on college syllabi.
Book reviewer Ilana Teitelbaum writes:
Sweeney Astray is a masterpiece on many levels: for the complex weave of its themes to the lyrical quality of its prose—accentuated greatly, of course, by Seamus Heaney's virtuoso translation. We follow mad Sweeney in his crazed wanderings through the forest and hills, torn within himself by his love of the wild and his incurable loneliness. The tale is presented as chunks of narrative interspersed with segments of poetry, their quiet, melancholy beauty evoking the sounds of windsong and rain.
The poem served as inspiration for a collection of photographs by Rachel Giese which was published, side by side with excerpts from the poem, under the title Sweeney's Flight
Sweeney's Flight
Sweeney's Flight is a portfolio of American photographer Rachel Giese's work, inspired by, and accompanied by extracts from, Irish Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney's Sweeney Astray....
.