Bye-Child

Bye-Child

By Seamus Heaney

 He was discovered in the henhouse
where she had confined him.  He was
incapable of saying anything.

When the lamp glowed,
A yolk of light
In their back window,
The child in the outhouse
Put his eye to a chink–

Little henhouse boy,
Sharp-faced as new moons
Remembered, your photo still
Glimpsed like a rodent
On the floor of my mind,

Little moon man,
Kennelled and faithful
At the foot of the yard,
Your frail shape, luminous,
Weightless, is stirring the dust,

The cobwebs, old droppings
Under the roosts
And dry smells from scraps
She put through your trapdoor
Morning and evening.

After those footsteps, silence;
Vigils, solitudes, fasts,
Unchristened tears,
A puzzled love of the light.
But now you speak at last

With a remote mime
Of something beyond patience,
Your gaping wordless proof
Of lunar distances
Travelled beyond love.

Summary of Bye-Child

  • Popularity of “Bye-Child”: The poem ‘Bye-Child’ was written by Seamus Justin Heaney, an Irish translator, poet, and writer. This interesting poem was first published in 1974 in his collection, Wintering Out. It talks about an unlawful child who was kept in imprisonment by his mother. The unique quality of the poetic output lies in the love that the poet sees in the babbling of that child.
  • “Bye-Child” As a Representative of an Abandoned Child’s Emotional Devastation: The poet sees a child in the outhouse on a lamplight. He sees the boy having sharp features and a rodent face. The poet, then, evokes an imprisoned dog-like quality in the child as it has become habitual for the child. The poet sees him quite frail and weightless, lying in a cage-like room where dust, scraps, and droppings have made the floor dirty. It is full of dust as well as solitude. The only work his mother does is to throw some scraps in his room. Finally, when he comes face to face with the poet, he speaks. The poet calls it a mime and is happy that, finally, it has touched his loving nerves. Although his ‘gasping words’ seem to have come from “lunar distances,” the poet understands the love that the boy needs.
  • Major Themes in “Bye-Child”: Neglect, cruelty, and human love are three major themes of the poem. Despite the incident being a face, it seems that sometimes, we, human beings, demonstrate an extremely cruel side of our nature that others stay aghast at it. The mother has left her child in extreme neglect and kept her out of the eyes of the world for almost a year. Yet, when the child sees the world, his babbling conveys the feeling of love and kindness in response to his mother’s cruelty and neglect. This is the human love that the poet feels.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Bye-Child

literary devices are unique tools the poets use to beautify their poetic output. The analysis of these devices in the poem is given below.

  1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ in “Your frail shape, luminous”, /o/ in “The cobwebs, old droppings / Under the roots”.
  2. Alliteration: The poem shows the use of alliteration by having two successive words with initial consonant sounds, such as the sound of /m/ in “moon man”.
  3. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /m/ and the sound of /r/ in “And dry smells from scraps” and the sound of /v/ and the sound of /l/ in “Travelled beyond love.”
  4. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;

After those footsteps, silence;
Vigils, solitudes, fasts,
Unchristened tears,
A puzzled love of the light.

  1. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. The poem shows the use of imagery such as “After those footsteps, silence”, “A puzzled love of the light” and “Of something beyond patience.”
  2. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poem shows the kids as a metaphor for some abandoned animal being treated cruelly.
  3. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. The poem shows the use of the symbols of kennel, cobwebs, and droppings to show the situation of a child.
  4. Similes: The poem shows the use of similes such as ‘Glimpsed like a rodent’ comparing the child to a rat.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Bye-Child

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

  1. Free Verse: The poem does not follow any rhyme scheme. Therefore, it is a free-verse poem.
  2. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are six stanzas, with each having five verses.

Quotes to be Used

These lines from ‘Bye-Child’ are relevant to use when talking about the value of language.

After those footsteps, silence;
Vigils, solitudes, fasts,
Unchristened tears,
A puzzled love of the light.
But now you speak at last.

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