fodder

• Or, as we said,

  fother,


  'Or' - enjambment, title runs into text

  'we said' - Irish farming community Heaney had a close affinity with

  'fother' - pronunciation evokes memories, Heaney seems determined to use his cultural language (political?)

  IRELAND
• falling at your feet,

  last summer's tumbled

  swathes of grass


  'falling at your feet' - alliteration prolongs memory by slowing pace

  'tumbled' - past participle adjective, times gone by

  'last summer's... swathes of grass' - sibilance indicates ease of returning memory

  TIME, MEMORY, NOSTALGIA
• a bundle

  tossed over half-doors

  or into mucky gaps.


  'bundle tossed over half-doors' - hay feeding horses

  'mucky gaps' - dirty stalls

  TRADITION, FARMING, RURAL
• multiple as loaves

  and fishes,


  'multiple as loaves' - similie emphasises allusion to the miraculous

  'loaves and fishes' - reference to Mark 6:41 - Jesus feeds many with 5 loaves + 2 fish, compares to hay feeding animals

  MYTHS, FOLKLORE, RELIGION