ABSTRACT
Water plays a key part in Seamus Heaney’s vision of mythology, allowing the poet to make myth anew. This chapter examines the place of water myths in Heaney’s poetry, asserting that the coasts and waterways of Ireland form a central part of his interaction with myth from the Greco-Roman, Irish and Christian traditions. In early poems, such as ‘The Diviner,’ fresh water provides a guiding metaphor for the work and role of the poet. As Heaney’s career progresses, he turns to various forms of mythic water, which offer both a physical space and a metaphorical plain in which to contemplate his contemporary realities. From the sea to rivers, and lakes to wells, water is pervasive across Heaney’s oeuvre. It is a connective force as Heaney links Ireland to Greco-Roman mythic cycles. At the same time, water’s generative mythic properties often apply only to the male figures in Heaney poetry, as demonstrated by poems such as ‘Maighdean Mara’ and ‘Undine.’ These generative properties are most clearly seen in ‘Station Island,’ where the island-within-a-lake setting contributes to a sense of otherworldliness. Through the poem, water reflects and refracts the events of Heaney’s pilgrimage to the island, finally offering consolation to the poet through its mythic qualities.
