The Follower by Seamus Heaney - Poem Analysis

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it balanced? Does it have an antithesis and does the title have any historical significance? A poem which has a title with obvious meaning is easy to understand and analyze as they address simple themes (Higgins 10). While as for those with multiple possibilities and antithesis, they might be difficult as they will be switching sides and a lot of keen is required to understand them. Poem titles with historical significance as also easy as they tend to address historical themes or issues that were prevalent in the set historical period.

Another important factor to be used in analyzing the poem is the speaker of the poem. The persona provides significant information that can be used to understand a poem. For instance, in the poem, the ‘Follower,’ the personal or the person who is speaking is a boy. The line ‘I wanted to grow up and plough’ show clearly that the persona in the poem is a boy. The boy admires his father’s farming skills; this is the reason that he followed him everywhere (Higgins 11). The speaker of the poem uses first-person pronoun ‘I.’ The line ‘I stumbled in his hobnailed wake’ affirms this. The significance of using person pronoun ’I’ shows that the experiences and stories are real and genuine. The narrator is seen like speaking directly to a second person, and his voice is meant to be universal, the narrator simply recalls his childhood days and how roles have reversed.

The poem ‘Follower’ clearly shows the ways things have changed. The title of the poem gives a snapshot of what the poem is about and extends understanding. In general, the poem is a great one as the poet has balanced styles, themes, and messages that he wanted to convey. As it has been shown above, the context of the poem, speaker of the poem, style of the poem, title of the poem and opening and closing lines of the poem is what should be used in analyzing a poem as they contain crucial information of a poem.