Identity and the theme of belonging in Seamus Heaney's Selected Poems

Abstract       The heritage and history of the ancestors and the country are important parts of the history and culture of peoples. It is the vessel which their faith, traditions, authentic values, language, ideas, and way of life derived from. It also shapes their personality by   culture, national identity, and creates the bridge of communication between generations. The identity and the sense of belonging can be traced in the early poems of Seamus Heaney: Digging (1966), Gravities (1966), Traditions (1972) and Anahorish (1972). Many critics consider this as only self-revelation or as a result of feeling guilty for leaving his family, land, and career. This study aims at proving that in spite of the fact that Heaney had left his place of birth and his parent’s tradition for choosing to be a writer, he presented poems that carry out the continuity of searching for the past and roots. The study concludes with that the sense of belonging has appeared through Heaneys early poems, reflecting his desire to plant the spirit of devotion to family, tradition, and Ireland.