#  English 202b. Beowulf and Seamus Heaney 

 



Instructor: [Daniel Donoghue](https://english.fas.harvard.edu/people/daniel-donoghue)  
Thursday, 12:00-2:45pm | Location: TBD  
  
This course balances translation, poetics, and literary criticism. The commercial success of Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf has given it a prominence in the general reading public the poem has rarely if ever enjoyed. At the same time its popularization at the hands of a self-described “interloper” has created a certain amount of anxiety among scholars of Old English. Our weekly discussions will include issues of translation while we compare our in-class efforts with Heaney's and with other versions that have been published over the years. We will also consider Heaney's translation on its own merits as a poem and in relation to the body of poetry he produced over his lifetime. All of this comparative work will take place against the backdrop of our week-by-week translation of Beowulf.   
  
Space permitting, this course is open to qualified undergraduates. Undergraduates, please contact Prof. Donoghue before classes begin if you would like to take the course.



 



 

 See also:- [ 2025-26 ](/academic-year/2025-26)
- [ Graduate Seminars ](/course-type/6-graduate-seminars)
- [ Course ](/page-type/course)
- [ Spring 2026 ](/term/spring-2026)