A Poem Signed by Seamus Heaney

This will be my last blog entry on the death of the great Irish poet Seamus Heaney.

In 2004 I had the privilege of attending the annual Yeats Summer Conference in Sligo, Ireland. Seamus Heaney was there and recited his poetry and lectured before fairly small groups. In the evening, he'd go out to drink with the participants (and not just with the big deals). At the end of the conference we all received beautifully printed and signed poems by Heaney and Brendan Kennelly. Heaney's poem at that time had not been published. It was called "The Blackbird of Glanmore," and dealt with the accidental death of his little brother while Seamus was away at school. I have tried to photograph the document below (it's not yet framed--it's rolled up and in a mailing tube, so photographing it was tricky):