Two Lorries

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1996

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

“Two Lorries” is a traditional sestina poem: thirty-nine lines composed of seven stanzas in total — six sets of six lines and a seventh stanza, or envoy, of three lines to finish. In a sestina, every line must end in one of six core repeating words; moreover, they must all appear in a predetermined order, as follows:

1. ABCDEF

2. FAEBDC

3. CFDABE

4. ECBFAD

5. DEACFB

6. BDFECA

7. ECA or ACE

In this poem, the first six end words are ashes (A), lorry (B), coalman (C), mother (D), Magherafelt (E), and load (F). Heaney follows the sestina pattern perfectly; he does, however, at times stretch his word choices. “Load” (Line 6) becomes “lode” (Line 7), “lead” (Line 14), “payload” (Line 22), and “explode” (Line 29); “lorry” (Line 2) becomes “flurry” (Line 30); and “mother” (Line 4) becomes “other” (Line 32). However, even with these accommodations, he retains the cyclical rhythm of the sestina. The lines do not follow a set meter and vary from ten to twelve syllables.

Consonance and Assonance

Heaney compounds the natural rhythm of the sestina form with effective repeated vowel and consonant sounds throughout the piece. This gives the poem a circular, song-like quality. The alliteration in “warm wet ashes” (Line 1) immediately gives weight to the image, making it jump out for the reader. This is contrasted with the hard K sound twice in a row in “black coal” (Line 1); this gives the first a harshness and the second a softness that create a beautiful complexity together. The first stanza also favors R sounds — “raining” (Line 1), “tyre” (Line 2), “lorry” (Line 2)—and Ls—“Belfast” (Line 4), “film” (Line 5), and “still” (Line 6). The second stanza leads with two strong Rs—“deliver farther” (Line 7) and then favors smooth S sounds—“silk black” (Line 8) and “silkiest white” (Line 9), “half-stripped” (Line 10) and “tasty ways” (Line 12).

Other effective repeated sounds happen in “backhand” (Line 17) and “cheek” (Line 17), “payload” (Line 22) and “blow” (Line 23), “bus” (Line 23) and “dust” (Line 23), and the thematic undercurrent that runs through “Death” (Line 28), “dust-faced” (Line 28), “darkness” (Line 35), and “Dreamboat” (Line 39). Heaney uses these interconnected sounds on a near-subconscious level to join related ideas in surprising ways.

Sensory Imagery

Heaney immerses the reader fully by using imagery that appeals to all senses. The “raining on black coal” (Line 1) and the “warm wet ashes” (Line 1) create an immediate sense of contrast and intensity, appealing to both visual and tactile senses. The Belfast accent “sweet-talking” (Line 4) the speaker’s mother creates an auditory image, the slick city sophistication against the sound of the rain against the coal. These opening lines create a vivid, multilayered snapshot of a child’s memory.

In the next two stanzas “black” is used again: “silk-black” (Line 8) is contrasted with “silkiest white” (Lines 9), and the “black lead” (Line 14) to clean the stovetop with. This creates a vivid sensuality when the next stanza trades in monochrome for a “dream of red plush” (Line 20). The use of color images in these two contrasting scenes—one remembered and one imagined—creates something like a cinematic, Wizard of Oz effect as the speaker considers what might have been. Very quickly, however, the poet pulls back into black and white as “time fastforwards” (Line 21) and the explosion covers everything in dust and ash. The repeated use of dust and ash gives the reader a tactile feel of the scene, both soft and horrifying. The story closes with the speaker’s mother and the coalman “filmed in silk-white ashes,” (Line 39) echoing the “silkiest white” (Line 9) ashes in the earlier scene. Although the scene is one of death and destruction, the white ash gives the poem a sense of serenity and quietude as the dead leave the world behind.