Seamus Heaney's "Punishment"

I was impressed with Heaney's “Punishment” before our class discussion, but after Dr. Johnson showed us some of the facts related to the social unrest during Heaney's time, I appreciate the poem even more. One of Heaney's “bog poems,” “Punishment” tells the story not only of a woman who had been buried in the bog for hundreds of years and then exhumed, but also of women from Heaney's time. Yet, it's not just the story that makes this poem good, but also the way Heaney uses the poem to explore human tendencies, examine his own culpability in different social events, and make a call for change.

Use of the footnotes helps explain the way Heaney explores human tendencies throughout this poem. Beginning with a description of a young woman who has been murdered for adultery, Heaney (as the footnote explains) reminds us of ancient Germanic peoples. Yet, when he turns his attention to the mistreatment of the “betraying sisters,” women from his own time, Heaney connects the two time periods. Both sets of women, despite the hundreds of years that separate them, are treated brutally for acting outside of what society considers acceptable; therefore, the juxtaposition of these women displays Heaney's belief that humans have the tendency to judge others harshly regardless of the time period in which they live.

Indeed, Heaney does not exclude himself from an exploration of our tendency to be over judgmental and harsh. He realizes his own guilt in having “stood dumb” while Irish women are “cauled in tar” for having relations with British soldiers. Guilty of in-action, Heaney considers his own part in the human mania for judgment as he can mourn the loss of the ancient Germanic woman, but stand passively by as his own contemporaries “[weep] by the railings.”

Nevertheless, despite his momentary self-chastisement, Heaney does take action in the end by calling readers' attention to these terrible human tendencies. One way this is accomplished is through his reminder that even in our “civilized” age, mistreatment can occur. He sarcastically refers to the treatment of his contemporaries as “civilized outrage,” but then reminds readers that such a term is misleading and is actually nothing but “tribal, intimate revenge.” Therefore, by connecting the actions taking place around him to the brutalities of more tribal, instinctual times, Heaney shows that we cannot hide behind the guise of civilization, but must cease such actions before we could ever truly be humane, civilized people.