Wintering Out. London: Faber & Faber, 1973. First Edition Thus. Pale green cloth boards, title lettered in gilt to spine, in publisher’s dust jacket. The scarce hardback edition as only 500 copies were printed, a year after paper cover edition of which there were 2500 copies printed. [Brandes A8c].

Heaney’s third collection and a pivotal work in his poetical development. Having spent a year as guest lecturer at Berkeley, California, this collection reflects a broadening of the author’s landscapes, at a time of the deteriorating political situation in Northern Ireland, and coinciding with his move of residence from Ulster to the Republic.