"Wedding Day" By Seamus Heaney

This poem by Seamus Heaney, titled "Wedding Day," is the poem I am doing my oral poetry interpretation on.  I chose this poem for this presentation because I want to get married someday in my future and after reading to it I could imagine myself in this poem.  I wanted to choose a poem that I could relate to somewhat, that way it would be easier to understand and interpret it. 

The poem goes like this...

I am afraid.
Sound has stopped in the day
And the images reel over
And over.  Why all those tears,

The wild grief on his face
Outside the taxi?  The sap
Of mourning rises
In our waving guests.

You sing behind the tall cake
Like a deserted bride
Who persists, demented,
And goes through the ritual.

When I went to the gents
There was a skewered heart
And a legend of love.  Let me
Sleep on your breast to the airport.

This poem has a few sound patterns that caught my attention.  For example, in the second line there is alliteration with the words sound and stopped.  Another sound pattern in the poem is with the words bride and breast.  This is another example of alliteration.  An example of assonance in the poem is with the words went and gents.  There is also alliteration between the words deserted and demented.

The tone of the poem, in my opinion, is soft and joyful.  I think it is joyful in the fact that the title is called Wedding Day and usually weddings are a joyful event in a person's life.  The poem should be delivered kind of slowly because with all the sound patterns you want to make sure you pronounce the words correctly.  Also, I think reading this poem slowly allows the listeners to get a feel of the poem and understand it to a way that it is their wedding day.  I think the very first line, "I am afraid," is a very critical line in the poem.  Many brides on their wedding day are afraid and nervous because this is a big moment in their life.  They are marrying the man who they want to be with for the rest of their life and they want their wedding to be perfect.  Being afraid on your wedding day isn't a bad thing; I don't think it is anyway.  I've been to a few weddings and I can tell the bride is nervous and afraid, but in a joyful way.  They are going to be with this man for the rest of their life so I guess it could be kind of scary.  Making the choice to get married is a big step in a person's life and I think being afraid is expected.

Diversity and World Literature

In my World Literature class, we have read about seven different books and all are from different parts of the world.  The authors of these books come from different diversities and cultures.  In my other Liberal Arts classes we talked a lot about diversity and different races.  We discussed how these different races had leaders who showed servant leadership and how they helped other people.  Learning about all the different diversities and races is a big factor in how a person or the world views the author.  Literature is the element to which we point to know people or the author.  By studying the different races in my liberal arts classes I was able to understand more about the author and where his/her writing was coming from.  If I didn't understand the culture or race of the writer, I would not have understood the book and dismissed the writer as a whole.