Blackberry-Picking: The Commentary

In Blackberry-Picking, by Seamus Heaney, Heaney uses Imagery and Blackberries as a metaphor for the speaker's transition from adolecence to maturity. Imagery is used to show the natural or physical action of picking berries but, it also show the speaker's loss of innocence transtion into realization. These effects are used to highlight the speaker's vivid memories of a favorite pastime of his or hers- Blackberry picking! This not only shows a chilhood memory of the speaker, but it also shows the speaker's transition from loss of innocence into adulthood or reality. The overall structure and tone really contribute to the whole meaning of the poem as well because its very different from most poetry. For example, the poem isn't really broken up into stanzas, they're all clumped together somewhat like a short story or maybe even a journal entry. Because it is structured like a journal or diary entry, it kinda shows that this poem is very important to the creator and perhaps it could be even personal to him as well. Also, the 1st "stanza" is much longer than the 2nd one and the 1st one happens to be very positive and colorful, whereas the 2nd one is much shorter and its very dark and depressing as far as tone and mood.
In Blackberry-Picking, Heaney uses imagery to describe his childhood memories of picking berries. This was something that was very precious and important to him because in the natural, blackberry picking was a tradition for the speaker as a child but it has a more significant meaning to it. Blackberry picking represents the speaker's adolecence and innocence and throughout the 1st stanza, the whole mood and tone of the poem is very peaceful and pleasurable. For example, it says "we trekked and picked until the cans were full" and this shows the speaker's carelessness and free spirit. Berries are used to show the speaker's transtion from innocence to adulthood and this is evident in lines like"one glossy purple clot among others, red, green, hard as a knot" and this shows the growth and change the berries go through as they begin to ripen.
Also, the word "ripen" is very important to the poem and my thesis because it represents change and growth to fruits. I think the word "ripen" also signifies the change the speaker is going through in the poem. Usually when a fruit is ripening, its beginning to develop and change into a state in which its able to be eaten, and thats exactly what the speaker is going through. In the 1st stanza, the overall mood and tone is very innocent, careless, and free. But in the 2nd stanza, its much shorter and the whole mood and tone is very dark and depressing. I think the stanzas are so different in length because the reader obviously enjoyed the blackberry picking more and he or she liked the feeling of being care-free and playful. The 2nd stanza is much shorter in length compared to the 1st because this is the point in the poem where the speaker realizes that good things don't last forever. For example, it says"The juice was stinking too....the sweet flesh would turn sour" and this shows that those sweet berries are all beginning to go bad and they've lost their flavor and sweetness. This is the point where the speaker loses his or her innocence and begins to see reality. Finally, the speaker realizes that everything isn't sweet (lol no pun intended) and at some point all things, good and bad, must come to end.