England’s Difficulty Analysis by Seamus Heaney

Title: The title is half a phrase common among Irish Nationalists. “England’s Difficulties are Ireland’s Opportunities.”

1. Seamus is saying that he moved like a “Double Agent” among the “Big Concepts.” That is to say, that he sympathized with both sides. A double agent usually has no allegiances.
2. He’s meditating on the word “Enemy.” He likens it to a machine’s hum, that is distant and in the background. Likening the Irish Rebellion to a “Machine” in the background of the nation. Much like our current Conservative movement is a hum in the background of national politics. It’s there, and Seamus Heaney is talking about how he moved through both camps, the IRA and the English. How he moved between each circles, really understanding the conflict. The outbreak of civil war a hum like a machine’s engine.
3. An allusion to Nazi Germany. “When the Germans bombed Belfast.” Probably to obfuscate the poem’s meaning. Or, likening the environment to something like World War Two. It was a big deal to the Irish and English. Maybe something we fail to realize over here across the pond.
4. This line is synthesis between the two major events, the Irish Rebellion and World War II. Both had their explosive moments, and both were probably whispered about. It seems so far away, but a likened analogy is that of the Conservative movements today, in the United States, silently, like a machine hum, in the background. It’s ever present, and there are whispers about it from the grown men. Seamus is speaking of it as a child, maybe remembering the bombs in World War II. But, also, remembering the ambiance of the modern day Irish Revolution. Perhaps he’s hearkening back to a day when the two sides were working together. Quoting “England’s Difficulties” as a unifier, making analogy that during World War II the two fronts were united.
5. There was an active propaganda war against Ireland, where the Germans funneled propaganda into the Irish homes. Seamus is talking about listening to the propaganda, with half way zeal. The fact is that the propaganda wing of the Nazi party was trying to turn the Irish against England. It is what the poem is talking about. And Seamus is half sympathizing with the notion of rebellion, and half not. Hence the half quotation in the title.
6. Lord Haw was a man who broadcasted Nazi Propaganda into the houses of Ireland. Obviously, being likened to an artist. In hind sight, we see that the Nazis were one of the most terrific forces of evil in history, and there is hardly a byword more synonymous with evil than Adolph Hitler and the Nazi Party. However, under the fog of war, people were questioning their allegiances because they hadn’t the full knowledge of the extent of Hitler’s Evil. They were caught up in a haze, and even Seamus sympathized with them. It’s likely a source of shame for him.
7. The last line is certainly a reference to the IRA and English confrontation. Not to Nazi Germany, as Seamus was only a boy at the time. The poem is an analogy of the Fog of War, and how no one truly knows who the good guys are until the dust settles. Seamus was carrying envois for the Irish Republican Army and the British. Seamus was showing himself conflicted at his time—yet he hides the act with allusions to World War II, where he could not have possibly had contact with German troops, since they were neither in Ireland, nor was Seamus old enough to truly be a part of that war. He would have been only six years old when the war ended. So, the story is an allusion to World War II and likening it to the modern crisis of the IRA bombings in England, how Seamus had half sympathies for both sides of the conflict, which is common among intellectuals and truly gifted men. One cannot fault Seamus for having sympathies, as there is a Fog of War that doesn’t allow the truth to be expressed, and it is likely the issue we have today where many philosophies and ideologies are being espoused, yet only time will tell whose are the right. And that does not mean force; it merely means whose side was in the right. Which can only be known after the dust settles, and the fog of war lifts.

Thoughts: What’s fair is that the work is allowed to be expressed. We tend to forget this as modern day citizens, with our certain moral philosophy, that under the time of crisis, we do not usually know who or which side is correct. It is simply the whims of the atmosphere, and perhaps, embarrassingly, you’ll find yourself on the wrong side with sympathies or half sympathies. An appropriate poem for the modern world, to take a step back and read the masters. Seamus’ experience is very familiar for today, when we have similar crises in our time, and allegiances might be muddied.

Heaney, Seamus. Selected Poems 1966 – 1987. Twelfth Printing. Faber, 1990. pp. 54. Text.