Sweeney Astray Explained
Sweeney Astray: A Version from the Irish is a version of the Irish poem Buile Shuibhne written by Seamus Heaney, based on an earlier edition and translation by J. G. O'Keeffe.[2] [3] The work was first published in 1983 and won the 1985 PEN Translation Prize for poetry.[4]
Photographer Rachel Giese and Heaney later collaborated to juxtapose selected passages of Heaney's translation with Giese's photographs of sites mentioned in the text, a work published as Sweeney's Flight.[5] [6]
Editions
- Seamus Heaney, Sweeney Astray: A Version from the Irish (Derry: Field Day Publications, 1983),
- Seamus Heaney, Sweeney Astray (London: Faber, 1984),
- Seamus Heaney and Rachael Giese, Sweeney's Flight: Based on the Revised Text of 'Sweeney Astray', with the Complete Revised Text of 'Sweeney Astray' (New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1992); pp. 85–117 print the complete text, with revisions
- Seamus Heaney, Sweeney Astray (London: Faber and Faber, 2001) ; prints the revised text first published in Sweeney's Flight
Anthologisations
Selections from Sweeney Astray appear in:
- Seamus Heaney, New Selected Poems 1966–1987 (London: Faber and Faber, 1990),
- Seamus Heaney, Opened Ground: Poems 1966–1996 (London: Faber and Faber, 1998),
Notes and References
- Web site: Field Day Papers . National Library of Ireland . 2010 . Emma . Saunders . 7 December 2014 . 81.
- John. Brian. Sweeney Astray: A Version from the Irish by Seamus Heaney; Station Island by Seamus Heaney; Hailstones by Seamus Heaney. The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies. December 1985. 11. 2. 89–91. 10.2307/25512647. 25512647.
- Downum. Denell. Sweeney Astray: The Other in Oneself. Éire-Ireland. Fall–Winter 2009. 44. 3 & 4. 75–93. 10.1353/eir.0.0050. 162015621. 5 December 2014.
- Web site: 2020-06-10 . PEN Translation Prize . 2024-06-19 . PEN America . en.
- Book: McCarthy. Conor. Seamus Heaney and Medieval Poetry. 2008. DS Brewer. 9781843841418. 8. 5 December 2014.
- Book: Potts. Donna L.. Contemporary Irish Poetry and the Pastoral Tradition. 2011. University of Missouri. 9780826219435. 63–64. registration. Sweeney's Flight.. 5 December 2014.
