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Poet: Seamus Heaney
Poem: Limbo
Comment 2 of 2, added on June 26th, 2007 at 3:45 AM.
Luckily, the concept of limbo (where unbaptized babies went to wait eternally, since they couldn't get into heaven) has been abolished by the German pope now, I meant to say. Interesting concept in the poem about the woman baptizing her child herself. Makes you wonder if she was able to go on or if she herself might have drowned too. And what were the fishermen saying and feeling? Something like, "Oh what a pity?"
ea
Comment 1 of 2, added on June 26th, 2007 at 3:41 AM.
This is a fascinating look at infanticide at the hands of the church. In making it so taboo to have a child out of wedlock, the church and local gossip has driven many a mother to drown her own. Even Christ would not withstand these stinging waters. I think Heaney does a superb job at illustrating the woman's pain with the line about the fish hooks tearing at her as she commited the ultimate crime.
ea
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Luckily, the concept of limbo (where unbaptized babies went to wait eternally, since they couldn't get into heaven) has been abolished by the German pope now, I meant to say. Interesting concept in the poem about the woman baptizing her child herself. Makes you wonder if she was able to go on or if she herself might have drowned too. And what were the fishermen saying and feeling? Something like, "Oh what a pity?"
ea