Looks back at another key time of Catholic disaffection - by 1703 9/10ths of land was occupied by Protestants 'the little/barons'
Heaney identify with the solitary servant boy - like Heanet the boy is 'a jobber among shadows'.
Anglo Saxon kennings 'work-whore','slave-/blood' are used by the English against the irish - but Heany explains that the Irish reaction to colonsation was to work hard and keep 'patience' and counsel'.
Stanza 3 Heaney addresses Servant directly - 'how/you draw me into your trail'
Stanza 4 - he re-establishes the illusion of distance - 'boken' line trail.of fodder left by the servant on this journey form 'haggard to stable'
Final images of eggs and fodder stress the fertility and resilience that Heaney and the Catholic Community will requre to see through the 'winter'
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