Seamus Heaney's Last Words

Seamus Heaney's son, Mick Heaney, contributes an insightful glance at the convention of "last words." He uses the last words of his father, Seamus Heaney, as one example. From Irish Times.

As I know from his case, when writers are confronted with the probability of death they can come up with a memorable valediction. In his instance it was two words in Latin, Noli timere, which translate as “Don’t be afraid”.

A last week
A week before my father wrote the phrase it was unthinkable that he would be in such a position. Far from being poorly, he had been out for dinner with a close friend, only to stumble on steps as he left the restaurant. He hit his head and was taken to hospital, where he was kept for observation. When his temperature remained stubbornly high the doctors decided that he should stay on while they figured out what was wrong.

There was no hint of what was to come. When I first visited him at St Vincent’s hospital, in Dublin, he was in good form, catching up on his reading and chatting with nurses and doctors. If he was uneasy he didn’t say it to me. Nor I to him.

But I was more worried than I admitted, even to myself. That night I woke up with a jolt after dreaming that I had received a phone call with bad news. I don’t believe that this was an omen, but it brought my anxiety into sharp relief. [...]

Learn more, from the beginning, at Irish Times.