The poems in Seamus Heaney's collection The Spirit Level keep discovering the possibilities of 'a new beginning' in all kinds of subjects and circumstances. What is at stake, in poem after poem, is the chance of buoyancy and balance, physical, spiritual and political. Private memories, classical scenes, humble domestic objects - a whitewash brush, a sofa, a swing - are endowed with talismanic significance, while friends and relatives are invoked for their promise and steadfastness. Throughout the collection, Heaney addresses his concerns, which inevitably include the political situation in his native Northern Ireland, in a poetry that never ceases to be fluid, alert and completely truthful.
- ISBN10 0571178227
- ISBN13 9780571178223
- Publish Date 8 October 2001 (first published 2 May 1996)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 8 April 2022
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Faber & Faber
- Edition Main
- Format Paperback
- Pages 80
- Language English