“Blackberry-Picking” Question Paper

Who are the “we” and the “us” in the poem? What type of setting can be inferred

from the imagery described in the poem? What emotions are evoked and shared

between the narrator and the reader? The author mentions “summer’s blood” and “a

plate of eyes.” What is the purpose of personifying certain elements in the poem? What

does the addition of words “tinkling” and “peppered” add to the poem? Would anything

be missing from the poem if those words were removed? What is the comparison

between berries and (seemingly) human eyes? As the poem goes on, the perspective of

the narrator changes. What effect does the changing of the point of view have on the

overall meaning of the poem? What is the overall purpose of transitioning from

describing the berries, picking the berries, and then watching the berries rot?

Heaney mentions unripe berries, ripe berries, and then rotten berries. How does

the order of mentioning the stages of the berries contribute to the overall meaning of the

poem? Who is Bluebeard, and what is his relation to sticky palms? What is a fur? In the

phrase, “...glutting on our cache,” what type of emotions or imagery does the word

“glutting” evoke? How would the poem change if that word were to be replaced with

something different?

Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet born in the United Kingdom. How would this

poem differ if Heaney was born and raised in another part of the world? Is the joy of

picking the berries worth the sadness of watching them rot? Was the picking of the

berries selfish? Why does the narrator pick them if he knows that they will eventually

rot? Is this poem an analogy for something bigger than berries?