Seamus Heaney was born in County Derry in Northern Ireland. Death of a Naturalist, his first collection of poems, appeared in 1966, and was followed by poetry, criticism and translations which established him as the leading poet of his generation. In 1995 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, and twice won the Whitbread Book of the Year, for The Spirit Level (1996) and Beowulf (1999). Stepping Stones, a book of interviews conducted by Dennis O'Driscoll, appeared in 2008; Human Chain, his last volume of poems, was awarded the 2010 Forward Prize for Best Collection. He died in 2013. His translation of Virgil's Aeneid Book VI was published posthumously in 2016 to critical acclaim.
Die Welt seiner Kindheit ist das Thema des großen irischen Lyrikers Seamus Heaney: Irland, die Farben und Gerüche seiner Landschaft, der Wind und das Meer, das harte Leben der Torfstecher und Bauern. Die vorliegende Auswahl seiner Gedichte repräsentiert eines der bedeutendsten poetischen Werke der anglo-amerikanischen Literatur.
