The sixth book of Virgil's Aeneid, in which Aeneas travels into the underworld to meet the spirit of his father, captivated Seamus Heaney from his schooldays. It took on a special significance after his own father's death, becoming a touchstone to which he would return. His Book VI bears the fruit of a lifetime's concentration upon it, and marks the end of Heaney's own poetic journey.
