Blackberry-Picking

John Heaney through his use of contradicting visual images, similes, cataloging as well as the connotation of the words used in Blackberry-Picking contribute to the greedy and over indulgent tone of the poem.

The images used by Heaney in his first stanza most of which are positive and nostalgic images are directly contrasted by the many images of decay and loss which are present throughout the poem. One such example would be the contrasting images of a beautiful august day which implies serenity as well as the images of ripening blackberry clots which is contrasted by the imagery of summer's blood which is more gruesome and this violent imagery take away from the previously peaceful imagery of the season. The natural images of the hayfields and open air of the byre are also contrasted by the images of various jars which contain the essence of these beautiful hayfields. These images add to the tone because the seemingly genuinely appreciative images of summer and blackberries are contrasted by images which show the author's want to contain and preserve these images unnaturally whether by taking "summer's blood" from the berries or simply taking the berries out of their native habitat.

The gruesome diction of the words used by Heaney also communicate his greed because words such as blood, clot, and flesh while having negative and human connotations they are also necessary process/components of a human which implies that the author's want of these blackberries because he sees them as essential parts of himself.

The cataloging used by Heaney also adds to this tone because he lists all the ways in which he tried to contain and usurp all the beauty and nutrients that lied within these libraries even if it was a painful process.