Whatever You Say, Say Nothing

As a Postmodern poet, there are certain elements of Heaney’s poems that are inspired primarily by the ideals of Postmodernism; this means that, often, Heaney’s poems pull purposefully away from traditional forms or traditional uses of form and meter. However, “Whatever You Say, Say Nothing” is more typical in its use of form; quatrains are used throughout the poem, and rhyme scheme is employed consistently throughout, marked by end rhymes that follow an alternating pattern. For example, the rhyme scheme of section I of the poem is: abab cdcd efef ghgh ijij klml. This basic rhyme scheme repeats itself in each section of the poem.

Heaney’s use of quatrains and rhyme in “Whatever You Say, Say Nothing,” references a literary allusion made within section II of the poem: “To lure the tribal shoals to epigram / And order. I believe any of us / Could draw the line through bigotry and sham” (Lines 49-51). In this section of the poem, Heaney refers to the power of words, worked into epigrams, to inspire and bring together tribes. The word “epigram” can have several meanings, but ultimately, an “epigram” is, most recognizably, a clever saying that uses wit to motivate its

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