Act of Union

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1975

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

The poem is in the form of two sonnets. A sonnet is a 14-line poem, and most sonnets are written in iambic pentameter. An iamb is a poetic foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable. A pentameter comprises five feet. In this poem, Heaney follows a basic iambic pentameter framework but with many variations. Only a few of the lines scan as regular iambic pentameter. Line 2 is one example: “As if the rain in bogland gathered head.” Line 4 is an iambic pentameter, except for the second and third feet, both of which are trochees where the stress falling on the first of the two syllables rather than the second: “A gash breaking open the ferny bed.” Line 11 contains a reversal of the iambic rhythm in the first foot, making it stand out against the basic metrical rhythm: “Conquest.” In Line 22, the first foot is also a trochee: “Mustering force.” In Line 16, the first foot is a spondee, in which both syllables are stressed: “Male, leaving you.” Placing the emphasis on the first syllable strongly underlines the masculine element that bears some responsibility for Ireland’s current plight. Line 6 is a shorter line, an iambic trimeter, consisting of three iambs: “And arms and legs are thrown.”

For the rhyme scheme, the poem follows that of the English or Shakespearean sonnet, in which the rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. This means that Line 1 rhymes with Line 3 and Line 2 rhymes with Line 4. This pattern is repeated in the two quatrains (a four-lined stanza) that follow. The final two lines form a rhyming couplet.

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There are some imperfect rhymes, also known as partial or slant rhymes. Line 1, “pulse,” and Line 3, “burst,” are imperfect rhymes, since the vowel sounds differ (although when the poem is read with an Irish accent this is much less noticeable). “Coast” and “caress” (Lines 5 and 7) are also imperfect rhymes, as the vowel sounds differ. Other such rhymes include “pain” and “within” (Lines 16 and 18), “already” and “treaty” (Lines 19 and 21), and “cocked” and “tracked” (Lines 20 and 22).

Consonance

Consonance is the repetition of nearby initial letter sounds. It can be seen in “The battering ram, the boom burst from within” (Line 18) and “Beat at your borders” (Line 24). There is also a recurring alliterative effect in the last five lines of the first sonnet, with the hard “c” sound, especially prominent at the beginning of three lines out of four:

That you would neither cajole nor ignore.

Conquest is a lie. I grow older

Conceding your half-independent shore

Within whose borders now my legacy

Culminates inexorably.

Assonance

Assonance is the repetition of nearby vowel sounds. This is especially noticeable in “wardrum [sic]/ Mustering force” (Lines 21-22), and “At me across the water. No treaty / I foresee” (Lines 25-26).

Enjambment

Enjambment is the continuation of a line of poetry onto the next without the use of end-stop punctuation. The reader must continue reading the succeeding line to understand the meaning that starts in the preceding one. “And arms and legs are thrown” (Line 6) is enjambed, needing Line 7, “Beyond your gradual hills” to complete it. Heaney often uses this technique. Other examples include “I caress / The heaving province” (Lines 7-8), “And I am still imperially / Male” (Lines 15-16), “Mustering force. His parasitical / And ignorant little fists” (Lines 18-19), and “At me across the water. No treaty / I foresee” (Lines 21-22).

Caesura

A caesura is a pause indicated by a comma, semicolon, period, or other form of punctuation within the line. The caesura has the effect of varying the rhythm and slowing down the line. Heaney makes frequent use of this device, most often with the use of a period and in conjunction with an enjambed line: “Beyond your gradual hills. I caress” (Lines 7), “Mustering force. His parasitical” (Line 22), “Conquest is a lie. I grow older” (Line 11), and “At me across the water. No treaty” (Line 21).