Heaney Wows Crowd With Poems, Anecdotes

Nobel Laureate Seamus J. Heaney recited his own poetry and read excerpts from his new best-selling translation of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf yesterday evening in Lowell Lecture Hall.

The reading was the first annual Stratis Haviaris Lecture, in honor of the long-time curator of the Woodberry Poetry Room.

The hall filled early with eager students, writers and professors--some with new copies of Beowulf in hand and awaiting autographs, others re-reading their dog-eared copies of his collected works.

Porter University Professor Helen H. Vendler introduced Heaney with high praise.

"Heaney's words haunt his readers...long after they close the book," Vendler said.

She joked about Beowulf's current success, but called Heaney's work "a treasure horde of poetry more valuable than any treasure horde of Anglo-Saxon gold he has made us see," before calling Heaney forward.

Heaney, who spends six weeks every two years in residence at Harvard as a visiting poet, made his way slowly through the crowd, pausing frequently to stoop and embrace his friends and colleagues along the way.

Explaining the source of the reading's title, "Room to Rhyme," Heaney sang a spirited Irish children's song for the crowd.

He then began the real business of the evening by reciting "Alphabet Soup," a poem about his experiences with language, letters and learning.

The poem dealt, in part, with his experiences as a professor at Harvard.

Heaney paused mid-verse to explain the significance of one of the poem's images: a wooden O symbolizing Sanders Theatre.

Heaney punctuated his poetry with anecdotes bringing laughter to the crowd.

The title for "Out of the Bag," for instance, came from Heaney's childhood experiences with doctors and childbirth.

"The doctor would come with a bag and go upstairs," Heaney said, then would return hours later with a child.

"I thought it was a spare parts baby-bag," he said.

Throughout the evening's poetry, however, the pain of Northern Ireland's troubles, a common theme for Heaney, resonated in his words.

As Heaney closed the reading with selections from Beowulf , his listeners rose in a standing ovation, to which Heaney humbly responded with gestures to sit down.

As the crowd filed out, many stopped to praise the poet.

"I love nothing so much as what he has written on his father and mother," said Robert F. Lyons, a retired teacher. "It has the warmth of the world and the land."

Heaney's readings were equally well received by the younger attendees.

"[Heaney] is amazing when reading his own work," said Helen M. Dimos '03. He is "like a performing actor."

Haviaris, the event's namesake, received praise for his writing and efforts as curator throughout the evening.

"He is the muse's functionary, and has preserved space for his own writings," Heaney said.

Taking the honors with a laugh, Haviaris replied, "I'm embarrassed and I'm mortified, but I am happy that the work was more than just a job."

Haviaris is largely responsible for the Woodberry Poetry Room's enormous collections of rare written and spoken verse.

"His efforts have made ours the most extensive poetry collection the U.S.," said Vendler.

In addition to his duties as curator, Haviaris founded and edits the Harvard Review, a literary journal, and sponsors the many poetry readings at Lamont for new and established poets.

"Stratis took a moribund institution and turned into a lively thing," said Bill Corbett, a poet and teacher at MIT. "He has always represented the whole art."

The annual lectureship, which will feature a different poet each year, was established by an anonymous donor.