Requiem for the Croppies Flashcards
(5 cards)
Requiem for the Croppies — Context:
- Heaney was born in rural Co. Derry in 1939.
•This poem was published in 1969, but was written in 1966 on the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising, in which Irish Republicans began an armed rebellion to fight for control of Ireland against British rule.
•The poem focuses on the Battle of Vinegar Hill - fought in Co. Wexford as part of the 1798 United Irishmen Rebellion, where the “Croppies” of the title were defeated by British Forces on June 21st.
•The Irish rebels were colloquially called “Croppies” because of their cropped hairstyles (inspired by French revolutionaries who shaved their heads to distinguish themselves from the wig-wearing French aristocracy).
•Because most of the rebels were peasants from rural communities with no military training or effective weapons, many dies against the well-equipped British.
Requiem for the Croppies — Form:
Sonnet.
The poet uses a traditional form of poetry to appropriately honour the Croppies.
Requiem for the Croppies — Structure:
A cyclical structure is created with the barley from the first line growing from the Croppy graves in the final line.
This emphasises how the seeds of the 1916 Easter Rising were sown during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. It reinforces the unending nature of Irish resistance.
Requiem for the Croppies — Rhyme:
Alternating ABAB Rhyme Scheme.
This is used to demonstrate the stark difference and division between the Irish Croppies and the British forces.
However, many of the rhymes are imperfect because they are half-rhymes. Again, this represents the ill-equipped and unprepared Croppies compared to the might of the British.
Requiem for the Croppies — Rhythm:
The poem uses imperfect Iambic Pentameter.
This reflects the imperfect nature of the Croppies as a military force. This, combined with the rhyme scheme, may reflect the speaker’s uneducated status as they are one of the farmer rebels and wouldn’t have been well spoken.
