Sweeney Astray. A Version from the Irish. Illustrated by Barrie Cook. New York: Giroux. 1984. New York: Giroux. 1984. First American Edition. Green cloth, gilt lettering to spine. A fine bright copy.

Heaney’s version of Buile Suibhne, one of the major achievements of medieval literature. The story centres on the fate of Sweeney, the king of Dal-Arie in Ulster, who was cursed by a saint, turned into a bird, and driven astray for many years until the curse was fulfilled by his death.