Blackberry Picking by Seamus Heaney employs many literary techniques in an attempt to create the experience that the poet feels to the reader. Imagery, diction, and many other techniques are used in this poem and they all accomplish their goal of enabling the reader to experience blackberry picking as closely as possible without physically engaging in the activity. The techniques also convey a deeper metaphorical message for life and the idea that; hopes, that of …showed first 75 words of 322 total…

…showed last 75 words of 322 total…inflicts upon him. Heaney uses phonetically intensive words such as “tinkling”(13) to create sounds in the reader’s mind and “blobs”(14) to create feeling for the readers. The use of slant rime(“pots/boots” 9-10) along with exact rime(“clot/knot” 3-4) creates an undulating rhythm, which sets a certain mood for the poem, one of confusion or emotional ambiguity for the reader so that he can relate to the poet’s own such emotions.