Book Series Guide

Seamus Heaney

Author guide

Seamus Heaney Books in Order

Seamus Heaney (1939–2013) was an Irish poet, playwright, translator, essayist, and critic from County Derry. His work combines close attention to landscape, rural life, language, memory, history, and political experience. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995 and published major poetry collections, translations of classical and medieval works, plays, lectures, criticism, prose, and collaborations.

poetrypoetry collectionschapbooksessaysliterary criticismtranslationsplayslecturesanthologies

Not sure where to begin?

Start with one of these

Cover of Death of a Naturalist

Death of a Naturalist

The debut full-length collection and the clearest entry point into Heaney's early voice, rural imagery, and central themes.

Cover of North

North

A defining collection that brings together landscape, history, myth, archaeology, and political experience.

Cover of Field Work

Field Work

A strong mid-career starting point balancing intimate lyrics, elegy, translation, and public history.

Beowulf: A New Verse Translation

An accessible standalone translation showcasing Heaney's distinctive handling of Old English narrative and sound.

Read in order

Books by series

bibliography · completed

Seamus Heaney poetry and poetic booklets

Original poetry collections, chapbooks, broadsides, and limited poetic publications by Seamus Heaney.

Series guide →
  1. 1
    Eleven Poems

    Book 1 · chapbook · 1965

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  2. 2 Cover of Death of a Naturalist
    Death of a Naturalist

    Book 2 · poetry_collection · 1966

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  3. 3
    A Lough Neagh Sequence

    Book 3 · chapbook · 1969

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  4. 4
    Door into the Dark

    Book 4 · poetry_collection · 1969

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  5. 5
    Night Drive

    Book 5 · chapbook · 1970

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  6. 6
    A Boy Driving His Father to Confession

    Book 6 · chapbook · 1970

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  7. 7
    Land

    Book 7 · chapbook · 1971

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  8. 8
    Servant Boy

    Book 8 · chapbook · 1971

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  9. 9
    Wintering Out

    Book 9 · poetry_collection · 1972

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  10. 10
    Stations

    Book 10 · chapbook · 1975

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  11. 11 Cover of North
    North

    Book 11 · poetry_collection · 1975

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  12. 12
    Bog Poems

    Book 12 · chapbook · 1975

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  13. 13
    Four Poems

    Book 13 · chapbook · 1976

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  14. 14
    Glanmore Sonnets

    Book 14 · chapbook · 1977

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  15. 16
    After Summer

    Book 16 · chapbook · 1978

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  16. 15
    In Their Element: A Selection of Poems

    Book 15 · poetry_collection · 1977

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  17. 17 Cover of Field Work
    Field Work

    Book 17 · poetry_collection · 1979

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  18. 18
    Hedge School: Sonnets from Glanmore

    Book 18 · chapbook · 1979

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  19. 20
    A Family Album

    Book 20 · poetry_broadside · 1979

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  20. 21
    Toome

    Book 21 · poetry_broadside · 1980

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  21. 22
    Sweeney Praises the Trees

    Book 22 · chapbook · 1981

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  22. 23
    An Open Letter

    Book 23 · poetry_collection · 1983

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  23. 25
    Hailstones

    Book 25 · chapbook · 1984

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  24. 26 Cover of Station Island
    Station Island

    Book 26 · poetry_collection · 1984

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  25. 27
    Verses for a Fordham Commencement

    Book 27 · poetry_broadside · 1984

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  26. 28
    From the Republic of Conscience

    Book 28 · poetry_broadside · 1985

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  27. 29
    Place and Displacement: Recent Poetry of Northern Ireland

    Book 29 · poetry_collection · 1985

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  28. 30
    Towards a Collaboration

    Book 30 · poetry_broadside · 1985

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  29. 31
    Clearances

    Book 31 · chapbook · 1986

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  30. 32 Cover of The Haw Lantern
    The Haw Lantern

    Book 32 · poetry_collection · 1987

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  31. 33
    The Tree Clock

    Book 33 · poetry_broadside · 1990

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  32. 34 Cover of Seeing Things
    Seeing Things

    Book 34 · poetry_collection · 1991

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  33. 35
    Mint

    Book 35 · poetry_broadside · 1991

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  34. 36
    Squarings

    Book 36 · chapbook · 1991

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  35. 37
    Iron Spike

    Book 37 · poetry_broadside · 1992

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  36. 38
    The Gravel Walks

    Book 38 · poetry_broadside · 1992

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  37. 37 Cover of The Midnight Verdict
    The Midnight Verdict

    translation · 1993

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  38. 39
    Keeping Going

    Book 39 · poetry_broadside · 1993

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  39. 40
    Joy or Night

    Book 40 · poetry_broadside · 1993

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  40. 41
    Extending the Alphabet

    Book 41 · poetry_broadside · 1994

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  41. 42
    Speranza in Reading

    Book 42 · poetry_broadside · 1994

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  42. 42
    Laments

    translation · 1995

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  43. 43
    Oscar Wilde Dedication

    Book 43 · lecture · 1995

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  44. 44
    Crediting Poetry: The Nobel Lecture

    Book 44 · lecture · 1995

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  45. 45 Cover of The Spirit Level
    The Spirit Level

    Book 45 · poetry_collection · 1996

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  46. 46
    The Light of the Leaves

    Book 46 · poetry_broadside · 1999

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  47. 47
    Electric Light

    Book 47 · poetry_collection · 2001

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  48. 48
    Something to Write Home About

    Book 48 · poetry_broadside · 2001

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  49. 49
    Hope and History

    lecture · 2002

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  50. 49
    A Keen for the Coins

    Book 49 · poetry_broadside · 2002

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  51. 50
    Anything Can Happen

    Book 50 · poetry_broadside · 2004

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  52. 51
    The Door Stands Open

    Book 51 · poetry_broadside · 2005

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  53. 52
    A Shiver

    Book 52 · poetry_broadside · 2005

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  54. 53
    The Riverbank Field

    Book 53 · poetry_broadside · 2007

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  55. 55
    The Testament of Cresseid and Seven Fables

    translation · 2009

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  56. 55
    Spelling It Out

    Book 55 · poetry_broadside · 2009

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  57. 56 Cover of Human Chain
    Human Chain

    Book 56 · poetry_collection · 2010

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  58. 19
    Ugolino

    Book 19 · poetry_broadside · 1979

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  59. 24
    Remembering Malibu

    Book 24 · poetry_broadside · 1983

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  60. 54
    One on a Side

    Book 54 · poetry_broadside · 2008

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bibliography · completed

Seamus Heaney prose, criticism, and lectures

Standalone prose books, critical works, lectures, and lecture pamphlets by Seamus Heaney.

Series guide →
  1. 1
    The Island People

    Book 1 · broadcast_prose · 1968

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  2. 2
    Explorations

    Book 2 · broadcast_prose · 1973

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  3. 3
    The Fire i' the Flint: Reflections on the Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins

    Book 3 · literary_criticism · 1975

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  4. 4
    Robert Lowell: A Memorial Address and an Elegy

    Book 4 · literary_criticism · 1978

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  5. 5
    The Makings of a Music: Reflections on the Poetry of Wordsworth and Yeats

    Book 5 · lecture · 1978

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  6. 6
    Preoccupations: Selected Prose 1968–1978

    Book 6 · essays · 1980

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  7. 7
    Among Schoolchildren: A Lecture Dedicated to the Memory of John Malone

    Book 7 · lecture · 1983

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  8. 8
    The Place of Writing

    Book 11 · essays · 1989

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  9. 9
    Readings in Contemporary Poetry

    Book 9 · lecture · 1988

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  10. 10
    The Sounds of Rain

    Book 10 · lecture · 1988

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  11. 11
    An Upstairs Outlook

    Book 12 · lecture · 1989

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  12. 12
    The Redress of Poetry: Oxford Lectures

    Book 13 · literary_criticism · 1995

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  13. 13
    Charles Montgomery Monteith

    Book 14 · lecture · 1995

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  14. 15
    Ecologues in Extremis

    Book 16 · lecture · 2002

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  15. 16
    Articulations

    Book 17 · lecture · 2008

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  16. 14
    Hope and History

    Book 15 · lecture · 2002

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bibliography · completed

Seamus Heaney translations and plays

Standalone translations, adaptations, and dramatic works by Seamus Heaney.

Series guide →
  1. 1 Cover of Sweeney Astray: A Version from the Irish
    Sweeney Astray: A Version from the Irish

    Book 1 · translation · 1983

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  2. 2 Cover of The Cure at Troy: A Version of Sophocles' Philoctetes
    The Cure at Troy: A Version of Sophocles' Philoctetes

    Book 2 · play · 1990

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  3. 4
    Laments

    Book 4 · translation · 1995

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  4. 5
    Beowulf: A New Verse Translation

    Book 5 · translation · 1999

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  5. 6
    The Burial at Thebes: A Version of Sophocles' Antigone

    Book 6 · play · 2004

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  6. 7
    The Testament of Cresseid and Seven Fables

    Book 7 · translation · 2009

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  7. 8
    Aeneid Book VI

    Book 8 · translation · 2016 Optional

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  8. 3 Cover of The Midnight Verdict
    The Midnight Verdict

    Book 3 · translation · 1993

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bibliography · completed

Seamus Heaney anthologies and collaborations

Standalone books co-created, co-edited, or substantially collaborative with Seamus Heaney.

Series guide →
  1. 1
    Room to Rhyme

    Book 1 · poetry_collection · 1968

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  2. 2
    Gravities: A Collection of Poems and Drawings

    Book 2 · poetry_and_art · 1979

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  3. 3
    The Rattle Bag

    Book 3 · anthology · 1982

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  4. 4
    The School Bag

    Book 4 · anthology · 1997

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Outside the series

Bibliography by category

Nonfiction (1)
  1. The Government of the Tongue: The 1986 T. S. Eliot Memorial Lectures and Other Critical Writings

    literary_criticism · 1988

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