Two Lorries

“The Guest Ellen at the Supper for Street People” by David Ferry (1999)

Another poem written in the traditional sestina form, Ferry uses perfect repetition of the same six words throughout, creating a cyclical atmosphere that emphasizes the mental illness of the woman featured in the poem. Published in 1999, three years after the publication of Seamus Heaney’s “Two Lorries,” this poem similarly plays with remembering the past and present, and how these events seem to overlap and create intersecting timelines.

“The Rain Stick” by Seamus Heaney (1996)

One of the poet’s most famous works from the same collection, The Spirit Level, “The Rain Stick” similarly plays with consonance and assonance to create a poem full of sounds that mimic the experience of a rain stick. The final line of this poem, “Listen now again” (Line 15), became the name of the Seamus Heaney permanent exhibition in Dublin, Ireland.

“Belfast Confetti” by Ciaran Carson (1987)

A contemporary of Heaney’s in Irish poetry, Carson explores the Troubles through this work. In this poem, the speaker is caught in the chaos of an explosive moment of protest and violence. Like Heaney, the speaker seems to question the point of this violence as they try to escape, only to be boxed in by the city and the authorities around them.