The massed treasure
was loaded on top of him: it would travel far
out into the ocean's sway ...
No man can tell,
no wise man in hall or weathered veteran
knows for certain who salvaged that load.
The above passage pierces inside you. The magic of the words pierce inside of us, they bypass culture, overlook years and years, blur the edges of myth and reality until they overlap, and finally they reach the inner depths of our being. Something in those words, can drag us back over the chasm of time and bring us to the exact location of Shield's burial. The word potency reads as "the power of something to affect the mind or body" (Google). I think that what Heaney is hinting at is the poem's intense power to drag you into the poem itself. We are not just contemplating the words, but we are experiencing them. Also, based off of my reading of the intro, I believe Heaney is acknowledging how the poem seems to probe or tap into your emotions. When we hear and experience the death of Shield Sheafson. We feel the grief and deep impact of his death from somewhere deep within us. The poem not only has the ability to take us on its fascinating journey, but it also allows us to feel the journey. For a brief moment we feel as if we are Shield's closest warrior band mate and we are for a split second are mourning as well. I believe that this "mythical potency" is the mark of great literature.
Great pictures, Ben! I really like the way you enact the poetic potency of the imaginative landscape of myth in your own "literary" response to Heaney's translation. I particularly like your use of "drag", as it accurately conveys the magnetic force of the mythic narrative, which thrusts the reader into the action of the poem.
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