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Quote by Seamus Heaney

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District and Circle

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Author

Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney was an Irish poet born on April 13, 1939, and passed away on August 30, 2013. He is renowned for his profound humanistic concerns and exquisite poetic skills, being one of the most influential poets of the 20th century. more

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“إلى ما أنتِ ماضِية، أيتها الوريقة الهزيلة، وتنأين، بعيدًا عن غصنك؟ - جَرَفتني الرياح بعيدًا عن الشجر، حيثُ ولدتُ، وأمسيتُ أتناثرُ، مثلما تتناثرُ الرياح، أسافر معها من الغاب إلي المروج، ومن التلال إلي الجبال، متناسيةً كل شيء وحيثُ يفني كل شيء، أفني حيثُ تفني الزهور وأوراق الغار، أفني. La Foglia Lungi dal proprio ramo, povera foglia frale, dove vai tu? Dal faggio là dov io nacqui, mi divise il vento. Esso, tornando a volo dal bosco alla campagna, dalla valle mi porta alla montagna. Seco perpetuamente vo pellegrina, e tutto l altro ignoro. Vo dove ogni altra cosa, dove naturalmente va la foglia di rosa, e la foglia d allor”

“The time has come, to stand up and to defy. Its our life, our choices, how long can they deny? The time has come, not to believe in every lie. Not to follow every rule, without asking why. The time has come, not to ignore as others cry. Or soon, very soon, it will be our turn to die. The time has come, not to turn a blind eye. Because once lost, freedom is hard to come by.”

“To-day a rude brief recitative, Of ships sailing the seas, each with its special flag or ship-signal, Of unnamed heroes in the ships—of waves spreading and spreading far as the eye can reach, Of dashing spray, and the winds piping and blowing, And out of these a chant for the sailors of all nations, Fitful, like a surge. Of sea-captains young or old, and the mates, and of all intrepid sailors, Of the few, very choice, taciturn, whom fate can never surprise nor death dismay. Pick'd sparingly without noise by thee old ocean, chosen by thee, Thou sea that pickest and cullest the race in time, and unitest nations, Suckled by thee, old husky nurse, embodying thee, Indomitable, untamed as thee. (Ever the heroes on water or on land, by ones or twos appearing, Ever the stock preserv'd and never lost, though rare, enough for seed preserv'd.) Flaunt out O sea your separate flags of nations! Flaunt out visible as ever the various ship-signals! But do you reserve especially for yourself and for the soul of man one flag above all the rest, A spiritual woven signal for all nations, emblem of man elate above death, Token of all brave captains and all intrepid sailors and mates, And all that went down doing their duty, Reminiscent of them, twined from all intrepid captains young or old, A pennant universal, subtly waving all time, o'er all brave sailors, All seas, all ships.”