Question

In Heaney's "Punishment", what does Heaney mean by "intimate tribal revenge" in the last line of the poem? In the poem, he appears to notice a continuum between the partisan violence in Ireland (between Northern Unionist and the pro-Independence IRA) with the bog woman he is describing, especially speculations about her death. Explain What this continuum or connection is?

Answer 1

Betrayal and killings of close relative who suppose the opposing side