Follower
Study notes in a reading layout. Choose the text size and page colour that work for you.
What happens?
A child admires a skilled farming father; the ending reverses who follows whom.
The main idea
Admiration for a parent’s mastery develops into an uneasy recognition that dependence can reverse.
1. “full sail”
Method: Simile
The father’s shoulders suggest strength and controlled movement.
2. “expert”
Method: Minor sentence
The isolated judgement concentrates the child’s admiration.
3. “stumbled”
Method: Verb
The son’s uncertain movement contrasts with paternal precision.
4. “stumbling”
Method: Role reversal
The changed subject complicates whether following means care, burden or persistent memory.
Form and structure
Six quatrains with alternating full and slant rhymes; the final stanza turns from childhood to the present.
Development, voice and tone
Father at work — Admiring. Detailed observation presents a skilled body controlling the plough and horses.
Child following — Self-deprecating. The son wants to imitate that competence but remembers clumsiness and dependence.
Present reversal — Uneasy. The father becomes the follower, changing the title’s original relationship.
Context
Heaney’s rural childhood informs the precision of farming language. The poem also explores inheritance and a son’s different adult path.
Comparison links
Walking Away: changing family roles. Climbing My Grandfather: admiration through movement.
Recall question
How does the ending change the meaning of the title?