Same. I was also named after him, so that’s another reason

Olivia Mae , that's great n all , ...but , " whatever ya say , say nothing " was probably the difference between Life and Death , " a closed mouth catches no flies "

@Mycroft Holmes I believe he was commenting on a very typical culture of suspicion and reticence to talk, even to ones neighbours, that was (and still is) very prevalent in Ireland, especially the North.

Careful “Olivia” ,your slave mentality is showing,it’s creeping out from under your Irish Uncle Tom seasoned with self loathing . You, have obviously evolved tremendously as a communicator. You use a poem describing the language of a people under siege, surrounded by hatred ,fighting to survive, as a platform to anonymously and sweepingly disparage an entire generation of people. In the end, YOU have said nothing. In the future, do us all a favor ,agus Dún do bhéal. I suspect for the gaeilge , just as for Heaney’s poem, you’ll need help to understand.

@Olivia Mae I agree with what @patrick pearse has said about your comment & would go a bit further. I'd like to be 'all eloquent' etc but feel driven to say that your comment is such a 'shitty' reaction to something as beautiful as this poem, even though IT'S truth is harsh. I wonder how much of this 'bare faced truth' you share, & where you choose to hare it ... facebook? Your truth is likely not truth about you, at all, but just more attacks on other people, generations, cultures, whatever ... anything different from you, so that you can attack it, callously. What a petty motivation, in any part of life - to make yourself great by belittling others - including whole generations. How insecure! Maybe you should have asked those people from 'the last generation of Irish men and women' why they were so tight lipped. I'm 100% certain that there must have 'been a reason'. And no, it wasn't just 'about religion'. FYI: I'm 50, so I think I just missed that generation you speak of, but I respect people for who they are - not what generation, gender, colour or whatever they come from. I was born in 1969, East Tyrone - Heaney's county, in the North of Ireland. In my view, this poem is superb - simple.

@WakinTheDeadFan It's about not saying that you are catholic to protestant Irish and vice versa. The divide between the two and one side as bad as the other.

You have no idea what you are talking about

The American way is to plant a flag. Turn up the music, load your weapon, and turn the safety off. Stand outside and bellow. Dare the others to bring it on.

@@kennethgibson1265 forgive the glibness... but division knows now boundaries. America and elsewhere most certainly can head in this direction. Religious hatred is as pathetic as it is predictable. There is nothing sacred about sectarianism.

Yeah well you outta know sweetie