Saturday, January 15, 2011

Personal Helicon

After some research, I found that Helicon is a mountain situated in Boetotia, Greece, celebrated in Greek mythology because of the two springs that were located there. The springs were said to be the source of poetic inspiration so this lead me to believe that Heaney's poem was about finding inspiration within himself. The well symbolized his sould and looking into was like looking deep within himself.
Mount Helicon was also savored by Apollo and the muses, some of the things I read mentioned Narcissus, the Greek figure obsessed with his reflection which could parallel Heaney's reccuring theme of a coming of age which is supposedly something found in many of Heaney's poem.
The change near the end of the poem, represents the coming of age from childhood to adulthood, the well is like a memory of his childhood.

1 comment:

  1. I think the well image is so curious. It's hard for me to relate to it. However, I appreciate the coming of age theme.

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