Introduction

Abstract

On 30 August 2013, Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney sent a final message of comfort to his wife, Marie, urging her not to be afraid. A few days later, their son Michael shared these words with the congregation at Heaney’s funeral, and thus, with the world’s media. From the pulpit in Donnybrook, the two-word text message was beamed across the globe, re-emerging on the pages of newspapers and the cycling ticker-tape of 24-hour television news. But it was online, through social media, that the message really took flight. Concise and compelling, Heaney’s last words appeared in the world as a ready-made tweet, forwarded and shared between the computers and mobile phones of millions of people. In the days and weeks afterwards, passing on the private message became a public tribute to the poet and to poetry — an act of communal condolence and vicarious stoicism. That Heaney’s final words were characteristically mighty was no cause for surprise; even so, a gentle rumble of curiosity gathered around the fact that the 74-year-old poet’s last words had been transmitted by text message. The apparent contrast between the new technology of the mobile phone and Heaney’s ‘beloved Latin’ is, of course, the very point — paying homage to the past while retaining faith in the future. The words of Heaney’s text message were analysed and admired on blogs, news websites and social networks, but they were also appropriated, taken up as an online battle cry against any and all obstacles.