The Poems of Seamus Heaney

'The glorious gathering-in of his achievement that is The Poems of Seamus Heaney, edited with meticulous care and luminous clarity. . . allows us for the first time to see his dozen formal collections as only the most visible peaks in a constantly rolling range of creativity.' Fintan O'Toole, Observer
'This book is a landmark. [and] lets us see Heaney's work, whose ripples we are still learning to navigate, for the colossal achievement it is, and it reminds us that Heaney is not only a keeper but an enricher of the word-hoard.' Philip Terry, Guardian
This is the long-awaited, definitive edition of Seamus Heaney's poetry. It encompasses all the poems Heaney published in his lifetime as well as the small number that appeared after his death: twelve single volumes, from Death of a Naturalist (1966) to Human Chain (2010), and those poems published in pamphlets, journals and magazines or with limited circulation. In addition, the book includes a selection of unpublished material chosen by the poet's family.
It is a body of work that, in its entirety, resounds with the 'lyrical beauty and ethical depth' cited by the Nobel committee: poems 'which exalt everyday miracles and the living past.'
Critical introductions to each collection and notes that illuminate the history and development of the poems make this the essential volume for admirers of Heaney's work.
'Heaney's voice, by turns mythological and journalistic, rural and sophisticated, reminiscent and impatient, stern and yielding, curt and expansive, is one of a suppleness almost equal to consciousness itself.' Helen Vendler
'More than any other poet since Wordsworth he can make us understand that the outside world is not outside, but what we are made of.' John Carey
'His is "closeup" poetry - close up to thought, to the world, to the emotions. Few writers at work today, in verse or fiction, can give the sense of rich, fecund, lived life that Heaney does.' John Banville
'These poems find - in the dowser's gift and the child's perception of the world - images of the marvellous that are also wonderfully grounded. . . Heaney is a poet who deserves to be read in entirety.' Jamie McKendrick
'For Heaney, there were marvels enough in this world, and never mind the next. Ordinary objects and places - a sofa, a wireless, a satchel, a gust of wind, the sound of rain - were sanctified.' Blake Morrison

Seamus Heaney was born in County Derry in Northern Ireland in 1939. Death of a Naturalist, his first collection, appeared in 1966, and was followed by poetry, criticism and translations which established him as the leading poet of his generation. He died in 2013.
Rosie Lavan is an Associate Professor in the School of English at Trinity College Dublin. She is author of Seamus Heaney and Society (2020).
Bernard O'Donoghue is an Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College. His seventh collection of poetry, The Anchorage, was published in 2025.
Matthew Hollis is a poet, editor and biographer. He is the author of Earth House, a collection of poems, published in 2023.