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An original Seamus Heaney limerick, unique to the occasion, handwritten, signed and dated on a postcard illustrated with his portrait.by Heaney, Seamus (b. 1939)
Book desription: Circumstances for the limerick are well documented. The Post Office receiving stamp establishes the postcard was mailed in Dublin 1 day after it was written, suggesting Heaney wrote it in Dublin. As wittily explained in the verse, the limerick was made per a request for an example of Heaney's signature. Below the limerick, a note establishes it is to assist in raising funds for the Swansea Fringe Festival, confirmed by the mailing address that also provides the full names of the persons in the limerick. Limerick, note, and address are handwritten by Seamus Heaney with a blue ballpoint pen: signed in full and dated June 14, 1983. POSTCARD: stamped by the Republic of Ireland Post Office Baile Ãtha Cliath (i.e. Dublin), 6:30 PM 15-VI 1983 (i.e. June 15) and with a stamped 'Think Tidy' icon and 22p Eire stamp. Postcard published by the Ulster Museum, color no. 7, no date. LIMERICK: "A couple named Ratcliffe + Hood / Have written to ask if I would / Just write out my name - / Which I do with some shame, / It seems so self-centered and rude." NOTE: "for the Swansea Fringe Grand Auction" MAILING ADDRESS: Helen Ratcliffe and Untepher Hood / Swansea Fringe Festival / Civic Information Centre / Singleton Street / Swansea SAI 3QG / Wales. HANDWRITTEN: In Seamus Heaney's penned hand, 5 lines light verse (30 words + 3 punctuation marks) + 1 line designating the donation + full signature and date + mailing address on 6 lines. SWANSEA FRINGE: A contemporary offshoot of the famous Welsh performance festivals, the Eisteddfod. Believed first held in 1980, possibly 1981, initiated by Sybil Crouch, working with the West Wales Arts Council in Camarthen. Years 2-4 of the Festival were largely organized by Robin Hall and Chris Hood, and after, Dave Downes. Festival ceased in 1990 and restarted in 2005. Swansea in Swansea Province is Wales' 2nd largest city after Cardiff. The name in Old Norse means Sven's Inlet: the founder is believed to have been the Viking, Sweyn Forkbeard. The festival is held September 28-October 8 and generally has over 100 theatre, cabaret, music, and performance acts. CONDITION DETAIL: Handwritten side (original limerick + donation annotation + address): Clean with ink bright and fresh and letters easily read. 1 light vertical crease runs through address only, crossing 6 letters, one per line: affected letters are entirely clear. In very light graphite at the bottom edge in address section, 1 small annotation in 2 rows, capital letters-HTCH-and-TPCH (appears partially erased). 3 moderate abrasions: they don't detract. 1) At top edge, has rubbed out printed capitals TCA in POSTCARD, 2) In address section, at the outer bottom corner with no loss, well away from handwritten address and 3) Below the limerick and well away from Heaney's signature with no loss. Tips: minute wear: bottom outer tip with light water stain that doesn't continue onto reproduction side. Color reproduction side: Light crease runs horizontally across portrait at chest: bottom tips with minute wear: outer top tip with light rub: light soiling to 2 spots near outer edge, otherwise clean and bright (can be cleaned-if desired). LIMERICK NOTE: Defined as a light verse of 5 lines with a rhyme scheme of aabba, lines 1,2, and 5 with 3 metrical feet and lines 3 and 4 with 2: the metre being traditional anapestic, 2 short syllables followed by a long. Use of the word first documented in 1898 but usage of the form far pre-dates it, going back to 1744 with the published Hickere, Dickere Dock, and likely much further back still. In Ireland the form flourished with the exchanges of the Maigue River poets, centered around Croom in County Limerick in the 1730's. SEAMUS HEANEY: 1995 recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature; first book-"Eleven Poems" (1965); first major collection-"Death of a Naturalist"(1966). In 1983, the year of this limerick, he finished his acclaimed translation from the Irish of "Sweeney Astray". Permanent address in Dublin though he has resided frequently in the U.S., teaching at Harvard, etc. Heaney occasionally got up to Swansea, particularly the University. A limited edition booklet of poems, "Joy of Night" was published by the University of Swansea Press in 1994. EDWARD MCGUIRE (1932-86): Described by the art critic, Brian Fallon as, "the finest Irish portrait painter of his generation, and … possibly the finest Irish portraitist since John Butler Yeats". He is recalled among friends and people Heaney knew, now dead, in "Seeing Things" (1992). The 1974 portrait painting of Seamus Heaney reproduced on the postcard is in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin.
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