From the Frontier of Writing

The tightness and the nilness round that space
when the car stops in the road, the troops inspect
its make and number and, as one bends his face

towards your window, you catch sight of more
on a hill beyond, eyeing with intent
down cradled guns that hold you under cover

and everything is pure interrogation
until a rifle motions and you move
with guarded unconcerned acceleration—

a little emptier, a little spent
as always by that quiver in the self,
subjugated, yes, and obedient.

So you drive on to the frontier of writing
where it happens again. The guns on tripods;
the sergeant with his on-off mike repeating

data about you, waiting for the squawk
of clearance; the marksman training down
out of the sun upon you like a hawk.

And suddenly you're through, arraigned yet freed,
as if you'd passed from behind a waterfall
on the black current of a tarmac road

past armor-plated vehicles, out between
the posted soldiers flowing and receding
like tree shadows into the polished windscreen.

In the poem the "Frontier of Writing" by Seamus Heaney he creates an idea of strong pressure from critiques during writing through use of an extended metaphor he develops throughout the poem. He develops this extended metaphor through his use of violent imagery and diction. He advancement to different areas in the poem suggests his progression in his writing.

    Seamus Heaney begins the poem by creating a setting of possibly what could be pictured as a desert, empty except for his car and the army cars of the soldiers. These soldiers are the ones questioning his presence, which literally I think are the people questioning him as a writer, and critiquing him. The reader can imagine the pressure he is feeling through his use of certain words such as "inspect" and "eyeing with intent all suggesting that he feels he is being placed under a microscope and evaluated. He also mentions that as he moves forward he feels "a litter emptier, a little spent" suggesting this isn't a pleasant experience.

Next Heaney drives to the frontier of writing. I took "frontier" as some type of unexplored field, suggesting he is reaching new ground in his writing, and progressing. This experience is similar to the previous and he says the sergeant is repeating data about, their eyes upon you like a hawk. But he makes it through to a tarmac road.The tarmac road is like an airport runway and he says "suddenly you're through, arraigned yet freed" and mentions a waterfall, so this all suggests he feels good now even though the previous experience made him feel tense. This new area is beautiful and he feels like an airplane on a runway about to take off into a sky of possibilities.

    Seamus Heaney uses imagery and diction to create settings which represent the progression of writing. He starts off being interrogated in what I imagine as a desert with people all around him. This is "a pure interrogation". After that point he is in a field where people understand him and his intent, but still watch him carefully making sure he does exactly what they want. Finally he makes his way to a tarmac road where the interrogation is over, and everything is diminishing behind him.