Introduction and Overview

"Follower" isn't just about farming - it's about identity, admiration, and the cycle of life. Heaney recalls his childhood on a Northern Irish farm, where he desperately wanted to follow in his father's footsteps but felt clumsy and inadequate.

The poem takes you from childhood memories of watching his skilled father plough fields to the present day, where the roles have flipped. Now it's his aging father who follows him around, creating a powerful role reversal that shows how relationships evolve.

Written in the 1960s before Northern Ireland's troubles began, this poem captures a simpler time when rural traditions dominated. Heaney was the eldest of nine children, so the pressure to carry on the family farming tradition was immense.

Key insight: The title "Follower" works on multiple levels - who's really following whom by the end?

Context and Background

Understanding Heaney's background makes this poem hit differently. Born into a rigid farming community in 1939, he faced enormous pressure to become a farmer like his father. Physical labour was everything in this world.

The poem comes from his collection "Death of a Naturalist" (1966), which focuses heavily on rural life and childhood memories. You'll find similar themes in his famous poem "Digging", where he also explores his relationship with his father and farming heritage.

Heaney cited John Keats and Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh as major influences. The poem was written just before the Troubles began in Northern Ireland, capturing a traditional rural life that was about to change forever.

Historical context: Rural Irish communities in the 1960s were incredibly traditional - sons were expected to follow their fathers' occupations without question.

Structure and Form

Heaney uses a solid, stable structure that mirrors both ploughed fields and the strong father-son bond. The poem is organised into neat quatrains (four-line stanzas) with an ABAB rhyme scheme - but here's the clever bit.

Each stanza contains one perfect rhyme and one slant rhyme (almost-rhymes). This represents the father (perfect) and son (imperfect), showing how Heaney feels he'll never quite measure up to his dad's farming skills.

The cyclical narrative is brilliant - it starts with young Heaney following his father, and ends with his father following him. This structure emphasises how relationships change over time and reflects the natural cycle of life.

Most lines follow iambic tetrameter (eight syllables with a steady rhythm), creating the feeling of consistent ploughing. However, the rhythm occasionally breaks, hinting at tensions in their relationship.

Technique tip: Notice how the stable structure contrasts with the emotional uncertainty Heaney feels about his identity.

Key Imagery and Language Techniques

The opening lines immediately establish the farming setting and power dynamic. "My father worked with a horse-plough" - that possessive "my" shows both love and the relationship's importance to the speaker.

Heaney uses nautical metaphors brilliantly, comparing his father's shoulders to "a full sail strung". This makes his dad seem larger than life whilst connecting the precision needed for both sailing and farming.

The technical farming language like "sod", "furrow", and "headrig" serves two purposes: it shows Heaney's deep knowledge of farming, but also isolates readers unfamiliar with these terms - just like Heaney feels isolated from his father's world.

Sound techniques are everywhere - the consonance of 'k' sounds in "sock", "pluck", and "clicking" mimics the hard, rhythmic nature of farm work.

Language insight: The contrast between smooth sibilance for the father ("shoulders", "sail") and harsh plosives for the son ("stumbled", "hob") shows their different abilities.

Analysis of Key Sections

The poem's opening stanza sets up the father as almost superhuman. The simile "shoulders globed like a full sail" makes him appear powerful and graceful, whilst "the horse strained at his clicking tongue" shows his natural authority over animals.

Young Heaney's clumsiness contrasts sharply with his father's expertise. "I stumbled in his hob-nailed wake" - that word "stumbled" appears twice in the poem, first for the son, then later for the father, creating the crucial role reversal.

The final stanza delivers the poem's emotional punch. "But today / It is my father who keeps stumbling / Behind me, and will not go away." The present tense brings us into Heaney's current reality, where his aging father now depends on him.

The phrase "will not go away" is beautifully ambiguous - it could show frustration, but more likely expresses the enduring nature of their bond.

Critical point: The role reversal isn't just about aging - it represents how Heaney chose words over farming, yet his father's influence remains constant.

Themes and Comparisons

Admiration runs throughout the poem - Heaney describes his father as an "expert" who works "exactly". This semantic field of precision shows his childhood hero-worship, even though he couldn't match those skills himself.

The theme of identity crisis is crucial. As the eldest son, Heaney was expected to become a farmer, but he chose writing instead. The "broad shadow" he follows represents both protection and the weight of expectation.

Physical vs intellectual labour creates tension - his father's "polished" ploughing contrasts with Heaney's "stumbling". Yet the poem itself demonstrates Heaney's own precision with language rather than land.

When comparing with other anthology poems, "Follower" shares themes with "Climbing My Grandfather" (family admiration) and "Mother Any Distance" (parent-child bonds), but its rural setting and cyclical structure make it unique.

Exam focus: The poem works on multiple levels - personal memoir, social commentary on rural traditions, and universal exploration of parent-child relationships.