Under the low clay roof.'
And I think of one gone to him,
A little stillness dancer -
Haunter-son, lost brother -
Cavorting through the yard,
So glad to see me home,
My homesick first term over.
And think of a neighbour's words
Long after the accident;
'Yon bird on the shed roof,
Up on the ridge for weeks -
I said nothing at the time
But I never liked yon bird'
The automatic lock
Clunks shut, the blackbird's panic
Is shortlived, for a second
In this one line stanza Heaney sums up the negative superstitious view of the bird. The neighbour didn’t like it and this may be justified, given the association of blackbirds with death. It contrasts with the first one-line stanza, where Heaney declares his love for the bird.
The Blackbird of Glanmore