"Exposure," by Irish poet Seamus Heaney, explores a poet's responsibility during times of political unrest and violence. Out for a lonely autumn walk, the speaker—a voice for Heaney himself—wonders if he's made a mistake in leaving his troubled homeland and wrestles with big questions about why he writes at all. A vulnerable portrait of an artist struggling with self-doubt, the poem doesn't offer any easy answers, but instead illustrates the value of nuanced observation and thoughtful reflection. "Exposure" was published in Heaney's fourth poetry collection, North, in 1975.

• Read the full text of “Exposure”

• “Exposure” Summary

• “Exposure” Themes

  • 

    The Role of the Poet in Turbulent Times

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-16
    • Line 21
    • Lines 22-24
    • Lines 29-32
    • Lines 35-40
  • 

    Survival and Self-Doubt

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 17-20
    • Lines 25-27
    • Lines 32-35

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Exposure”

  • Lines 1-4

    It is December ...
    ... to look at.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 5-10

    A comet that ...
    ... come on meteorite!

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 11-16

    Instead I walk ...
    ... for the desperate.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 17-22

    How did I ...
    ... My responsible tristia.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 23-24

    For what? For ...
    ... is said behind-backs?

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 25-29

    Rain comes down ...
    ... The diamond absolutes.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 30-36

    I am neither ...
    ... wind that blows;

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 37-40

    Who, blowing up ...
    ... comet's pulsing rose.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• “Exposure” Symbols

  • 

    The Comet

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-9: “A comet that was lost / Should be visible at sunset, / Those million tons of light / Like a glimmer of haws and rose-hips, / And I sometimes see a falling star.”
    • Lines 37-40: “Who, blowing up these sparks / For their meagre heat, have missed / The once-in-a-lifetime portent, / The comet's pulsing rose.”

• “Exposure” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Lines 21-22: “As I sit weighing and weighing / My responsible tristia.”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “The ash tree cold to look at.”
    • Line 11: “damp leaves,”
    • Line 14: “some muddy compound”
    • Lines 18-19: “my friends' / Beautiful prismatic counselling”
    • Line 26: “low conductive voices”
    • Line 40: “The comet's pulsing rose.”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “birches / Inheriting the last light,”
    • Lines 11-12: “damp leaves, / Husks, the spent flukes of autumn”
    • Line 20: “the anvil brains of some who hate me”
    • Lines 26-27: “Its low conductive voices / Mutter about let-downs and erosions”
    • Lines 32-33: “a wood-kerne / Escaped from the massacre”
    • Lines 34-40: “Taking protective colouring / From bole and bark, feeling / Every wind that blows; / Who, blowing up these sparks / For their meagre heat, have missed / The once-in-a-lifetime portent, / The comet's pulsing rose.”

  • Rhetorical Question

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:

    • Lines 23-24: “For what? For the ear? For the people? / For what is said behind-backs?”

  • Parallelism

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where parallelism appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-4: “Alders dripping, birches / Inheriting the last light, / The ash tree cold to look at.”
    • Lines 11-12: “damp leaves, / Husks, the spent flukes”
    • Lines 23-24: “For what? For the ear? For the people? / For what is said behind-backs?”
    • Line 31: “An inner emigre”
    • Line 32: “a wood-kerne”
    • Lines 34-36: “Taking protective colouring / From bole and bark, feeling / Every wind that blows;”
    • Lines 39-40: “The once-in-a-lifetime portent, / The comet's pulsing rose.”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 7-8: “Those million tons of light / Like a glimmer of haws and rose-hips,”
    • Lines 15-16: “His gift like a slingstone / Whirled for the desperate.”

• “Exposure” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Wicklow
  • Alders
  • Inheriting
  • Haws
  • Rose-hips
  • Meteorite
  • Spent flukes
  • Compound
  • Slingstone
  • Prismatic
  • Anvil
  • Tristia
  • Conductive
  • Erosions
  • Diamond absolutes
  • Internee
  • Informer
  • Inner emigre
  • Wood-kerne
  • Bole
  • Meagre
  • Pulsing rose
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “It is December in Wicklow:”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Exposure”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Exposure” Speaker

• “Exposure” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Exposure”

• More “Exposure” Resources

  • External Resources

    • An Introduction to the Troubles — Read an article explaining how the Troubles began.

    • An Interview with Heaney — Read a Guardian interview with the poet in which he discusses his life, his influences, and his experience of living in the public eye.

    • An Appreciation of Seamus Heaney — Read a Guardian article discussing Heaney's poetic achievements. 

    • Heaney's Life and Work — Read the Poetry Foundation's biography of Seamus Heaney.

    • A Review of Heaney's "North" — Read a review of the poet's fourth poetry collection (in which "Exposure" was published).

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Seamus Heaney

    • Blackberry-Picking

    • Bogland

    • Death of a Naturalist

    • Digging

    • Follower

    • Mid-Term Break

    • Out of the Bag

    • Personal Helicon

    • Punishment

    • Requiem for the Croppies

    • Storm on the Island

    • The Tollund Man

Cite This Page