"The Otter" 10/4 Reading Response

Of All the poems that I have read in Seamus Heaney’s “Field Work” to date, my favorite is “The Otter”. When I read the first time I found myself visualizing what Heaney had written. With lines like “I loved your wet head and smashing crawl, / your fine swimmer’s back and shoulders” and Turning to swim on your back, / each silent, thigh-shaking kick” (39) it’s impossible to ignore the vast amount of imagery wedged between so few words.

Besides the imagery, this poem invokes various emotions in the reader. While I was reading it I started thinking about a very beautiful woman swimming around in a swimming hole. I believe that Heaney is stressing that the “otter” in the poem is not only an object of his lust, but also an object of his love.

When I read the last stanza of the poem I realized that Seamus Heaney was describing the memory he had of this woman in his head. This leads me to believe that Heaney was missing the woman that he loves when he wrote this poem. I am also convinced that this poem was written about his wife because there are multiple other poems in “Field Work” that Heaney wrote about his wife. Regardless, I think it’s very strange that Heaney ends up describing this woman as an otter. I am well aware that poets use metaphors and similes to enhance their work but I never thought I would read a poem where a man described his wife as “Heavy and frisky in your freshened pelt” (39). That’s a clear indicator of how interesting and genuine Heaney’s work is. This poem embodies those adjectives.