Blackberry-Picking Analysis
Redraft
by Lynsey Martin
Choose a poem in which the poet explores one of the following emotions: anguish, dissotisfaction,
regret, 1055.
Show how the poet explores the emotion and discuss to what extent he ar she is successful in
deepening your understanding of it.
'Blackberry-picking'
by Seamus Heaney is about a recalled memory of a young boy picking
blackberries in late summer time. The effective poem explores the disappointment
and slight
anguish that the boy experiences while picking the blossoming fruit. The poet uses strong word
choice, along with imagery that allows us to relate to the boy's emotions creating more of the
insight towards the characters feelings.
At the start of the first stanza, the poet creates a build up of emotions that lead to the characterfeeling let down and frustrated with himself. During the first stanza, we see the excitement in the
boy for when he first discovers the blackberries. 'At first, just one, a glossy purple clot ...hard as a
knot.' as the character begins to describe the fruit, the use of word choice creates am image of this
shiny attractive fruit, full of juice tempting the boy to eat the berries. Moving further on in the
poem, the poet explores the sensual taste of the berries through the character 'its flesh was
sweetl lUke thickened wine'. The use of simile makes the fruit even more appealing with its sugary
compact flavour expressing the boy's desire to want more.
Further on in stanza one, we begin to see that the berries taste has driven the boy to become
obsessive and greedy towards the fruit. The poet expresses how the fruit is so addictive when he
explains the taste in further depth: 'Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for
II
Picking'. Here the
poet informs us how when he is eating these berries, the taste is so sweet it leaves a long lasting
taste on his tongue, which drives him to want more. The poet uses 'stains' as a word choice to make
us think of a permanent taste that is hard to wash away, so the boy is left with a constant reminder
of the delicious taste of the berries; which ties in with why the boy has such a strong passion to
devour more of the fruit. However, the boy then begins to develop greediness towards the fruit.
Here the poet explains how the boy has begun to use almost any type of container to store more of
the appetising berries: 'that hunger
II sent
us out with milk-cans, pea-tins, jam-pots'. The use ofthe
list is able to convey the boy's eagerness to get as much fruit as he can keep, highlighting the boy's
selfishness during his indulgence showing no self control.
Near the end of the first stanza, we begin to see the start of the character becoming
distressed. The poet begins to describe the berries very differently
from before, 'big dark blobs'
showing a change in attitude as the fruit no longer seems to be tasteful and attractive to the boy. In
the last two lines of the first stanza it is almost as if the boy has become disturbed. The poet uses a
simile towards the berries when comparing them to 'a plate of eyes', creating a sense of someone
watching and disagreeing with the boy's actions towards the picking of the berries. It is almost as if
the boy is beginning to feel guilty for his actions, starting to show anguish to what he feels is his
punishment.
In the last stanza, we are able to see the dissatisfaction that the character experiences. The
boy's attitude towards the fruit has changed as well as the texture of the berries. At the start, the
boy explains how he has 'hoarded' all of these berries in a mass pile but the poet is still describing
the berries as being 'fresh', highlighting the boy's innocence to what is about to come. However the
second line of the last stanza implies a contrast and contradicts with the first line: 'But when the
ba~h was filled we found a fur, / / A rat-grey fungus, glutting on our cache.' Once again showing the
greed that has overcome the boy as he conveys the sheer volume of berries that he has collected
when having to store them in 'the bath'. This is when we start to see the disappointment
in the
character as he discovers that the berries are not quite the same from when he first picked them.
The mould is described as being 'rat-grey fungus' with connotations
of disease which make the fruit
even less attractive. As well as when the boy describes the fungus as 'glutting on our cache', it is
almost as if the boy feels it is unfair that this has happened. The poet also focuses on the taste and
smell of the berries: 'the juice was stinking too, the sweet flesh would turn sour'. The word choice
of 'stinking' stresses further more that the fruit has begun to decompose which produces a putrid
stench, as well the word choice creating a childish tone towards the description.
However, it is the
last three lines that the dissatisfaction of the child is strongly emphasized when the poet writes "
always felt like crying. It wasn't fair / / That all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot.' Here we see how
distressed and upset the child feels towards the berries, as he expresses how he 'felt like crying'
were the childish tone is yet again highlight at the end of that quote with the common phrase 'it
wasn't fair'. The last line of the poem is the main sentence which portrays the emotions that this
poem is about, hope and disappointment:
'Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew they would not.'
This highlights how every time the boy would repeat the same events, building faith, wishing they
would last, creating such high expectations but every time he would be let down. Explaining how he
feels defeated by nature ending in such disappointment
making him feel upset and frustrated, but
he is able to keep on hoping that next year it will be different as he waits for their return.
The poet creates this sense of climax in the poem with the excitement in the child, the
indulgence then with the slow come down to realisation. The poet uses the experience of the child
with the berries to help us relate to the story told in the poem. This helps us understand how the
boy is feeling, letting us feel his disappointment
choice throughout
and grief in the berries at the end. The strong word
the poem helps us convey the emotions and imagery at certain stages through
the poem to follow the story. Helping us to feel and share the thoughts and feelings towards the
same berries, as if we are sharing the same experience as well as the use of simile and imagery. The
poet has been very particular with the use of words throughout
the poem, creating a successful
poem that has been skilfully composed to let us connect with the character and his experiences.