Scaffolding

Masons, when they start upon a building,

Are careful to test out the scaffolding;

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Make sure that planks won’t slip at busy points,

Secure all ladders, tighten bolted joints.

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And yet all this comes down when the job’s done

Showing off walls of sure and solid stone.

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So if, my dear, there sometimes seem to be

Old bridges breaking between you and me

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Never fear. We may let the scaffolds fall

Confident that we have built our wall.

Seamus Heaney

Theme

Love, Relationship

Rhyme

The Rhyming scheme in the poem is aa bb cc and dd, this rhyming scheme helps create a visual representation of the scaffolding; just as scaffolding is used to construct physical and metaphorical walls in the poem- the rhyming couplets build on each other.

Metaphor

The poem is a metaphor for love, and relationship; in my opinion it goes through stages of a relationship that most, if not all couples go through, and in order to “build” a strong relationship, you must create strong foundations, as seen in the poem when the poet says to “secure all ladders, tighten bolted joints”. When these scaffolds come down, it finally reveals a wall of “solid stone”; or what I think is a strong relationship, that wont break easily.

Alliteration

“Sure and Solid Stone” the alliteration used helps put an emphasis on the sure and solid stone, this emphasis makes the solid stone have more power, and fortitude behind it.

Imagery

Heaney creates an image of a building being created, first being tested with scaffolding. He goes through the process of the building, making sure the scaffolding is secure and solid. When the scaffolding goes down, it reveals a strong and solid wall. It creates a strong image of building at the start, however when we enter the final stanza, we learn that this scaffold is just a metaphor for love; helping us recreate an image of a relationship building up through many trials and tribulations; as represented by the scaffolds