Hope and history rhyme

Former US president Bill Clinton praised Seamus Heaney as “our finest poet of the rhythms of ordinary lives” and a “powerful voice for peace” in a tribute.

The farmer’s son, who went on to become a world-renowned Nobel laureate, died in hospital in Dublin aged 74 after a short illness.

Mr Clinton and his wife Hillary said they were saddened to learn of the death of their friend.