Follower Heaney expresses his respect and love for his father and acknowledges his place in the family line. He goes on to illustrate a paradox that is evident twenty years on. The poet paints the portrait of a strong, silent father from twenty years before. The man cut an impressive figure then with the stature and dignity of a tall-ship, shoulders like a full sail strung; a farmer at work in the fields, in full control of plough and horses between the shafts and the furrow. To his admiring son he was An expert, adept at positioning the plough’s wing [...]