The Early Purges Lyrics
Dan Taggart pitched them, 'the scraggy wee shits',
Into a bucket; a frail metal sound,
Soft paws scraping like mad. But their tiny din
Was soon soused. They were slung on the snout
Of the pump and the water pumped in.
'Sure, isn't it better for them now?' Dan said.
Like wet gloves they bobbed and shone till he sluiced
Them out on the dunghill, glossy and dead.
Suddenly frightened, for days I sadly hung
Round the yard, watching the three sogged remains
Turn mealy and crisp as old summer dung
Until I forgot them. But the fear came back
When Dan trapped big rats, snared rabbits, shot crows
Or, with a sickening tug, pulled old hens' necks.
Still, living displaces false sentiments
And now, when shrill pups are prodded to drown
I just shrug, 'Bloody pups'. It makes sense:
'Prevention of cruelty' talk cuts ice in town
Where they consider death unnatural
But on well-run farms pests have to be kept down.
About
The title is taken from the language of totalitarian politics, where “undesirable” sections of a population who are opposed to a regime may be murdered or expelled. The poem is a reflection of this brutal process on a small scale; the removal of unwanted animals — pests — from a farm. It is a commentary on a child’s sensitivity to killing and the process over time whereby an adult becomes desensitised and inured.
It should be noted, though, that just as Heaney was never involved in belligerant politics during the Northern Ireland Troubles, in the poem he takes no active part in destroying animals.
There is, however, a question mark at the end, when the reader may wonder if the compassionate child or the unromantic adult is the true voice. This is for the reader to decide.
This poem appears in Heaney’s collection entitled Death of A Naturalist in which the theme of death is explored.
Structure
The poem comprises seven tercets, that is stanzas of three lines each. There is a regular ABA rhyme scheme in each stanza. Sentences are short and choppy, and lines are enjambed to imitate the rhythms of ordinary speech,
Language and Imagery
The voice is that of the a first person speaker, the poet when he was a child. The language is colloquial, imitating everyday speech. The farm worker, Dan Taggart’s distinctive way of speech is quoted directly.
Heaney’s style in this poem isn’t lyrical but muscular and vivid. He doesn’t shrink from the frank descriptions of the killing of unwanted animals, for example the “sickening tug, pulled old hens' necks.”
Characteristic Heaney, language is spare and concise; not a word is wasted.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning