The opening paragraphs are important in understanding what Heaney tries to convey through the poem. The quote "It's fat black handlegrips" illustrates how Heaney notices the bike's features because it is out of place on the County Derry farm, much like Protestants and Catholics - who are never seen together (except in violence). This smug and egotistical imagery of the bike makes Heaney feel inferior and therefore creates fear - if the bike is fearsome how imposing would the policeman himself be? The word 'black' displays a further sense of fear, black represents evil and death, conjuring an image that suggests that the Catholic view of Protestants, such as the police officer, is sinister and malevolent. The pedals being relieved "Of the boot of the law" suggest the brutal force of the police against Catholics simply because they were different religions. The word 'boot' is an indication of kicking whereas the 'law' is associated with Catholics. Perhaps Heaney thought the law existed to kick you out if you were Catholic.
In the third stanza the Heaney observes the constable and "his slightly sweating hair". The imagery of the sweating hair displays the policeman's noticeable desperation to find something; anything to convict Heaney's father for. In which as Heaney is naive and innocent he practically creates the theme of fear by finding things his father could be convicted of, therefore he fears the constable may find these things too. From this quote we also realise that the visit is strictly professional from the complete lack of hospitality. Although he is "slightly sweating" he is not offered a drink or exchange of pleasantries. This indicates the clash of religions kept the visit formal and impersonal The imagery of the "heavy ledger" in stanza 4 illustrates the huge amounts of money the Protestant government felt inclined to take from farmers, it is a visual symbol of the purpose of the visit, otherwise the policeman would never have dreamed to come to the home of Catholics. The word 'heavy' fabricates the fear Heaney has of his father being convicted of not being able to pay the large sums of rent despite giving "Acres, roods and perches" which was everything they had.
In stanza 5 Heaney illustrates the fear evident throughout the poem. The quote "Arithmetic and fear" portrays the link in the two worlds of age. 'Arthimetic' is the distrust between the Heaney's father and the policeman which then links to the fear Heaney displays during the poem. It is then followed by the quote "I sat staring at the polished holster," This quote indicates how Heaney describes it in great detail yet fears the sight of a gun, and even more fears the prospect of the policeman turning violent and using it. The constable goes about recording Heaney's father's tillage returns which we realise from the quote, "'Any other root crops? Mangolds? Marrowstems? Anything like that?" It's almost as if the policeman is interrogating Heaney's father, as if he has something to hide, once again showing the distrust between the two grown ups indicated from the word 'Arithmetic' . From another angle we may interpret the policeman's word to be as if he is looking to take everything from Heaney's family, without these crops such as 'Marrowstems' Heaney's father couldn't sell anything to meet the looming demands of a father to provide food for his family. The policeman's desperation is as if he wants them dead, because there is nothing to convict Heaney's father for and send him, what Protestants believe, to where he belongs - in jail. However Heaney's father indeed follows the secluded and remote behaviour of an interrogation. His answer "No," is very abrupt and suggests he does have something to hide, which we later find out to be the line of turnips. The palpable atmosphere of tension met by Heaney's father's surly reply effectively captures the resentment felt Heaney's father who represents the Catholic Nationalist community. Therefore the monosyllabic reply indicates Heaney's father knows the policeman's intentions of taking the entire source of income and displays a bitter attitude.
Marrowstems in a garden
The narrator of the event is Heaney as a child, and expresses the stereotypical naivety of one. This is portrayed through the quote "But was there not a line Of turnips where the seed ran out" Like his father, Heaney knows there is more crops to give to the policeman. Nevertheless his father tells the policeman otherwise. This demonstrates Heaney's innocence as he doesn't realise the misfortune of giving away the family's crops and can't understand why his father would lie. This generates a sense of fear in Heaney's mind - if the constable realised there was more crops to give then his father would be convicted of false declaration and therefore the constable would no longer have 'slighting sweating hair'. This fear is then extended in the quote "He stood up, shifted the baton-case". After imagining "the black hole in the barracks" Heaney becomes aware of the policeman's movements and it startles him. He has heard from the Catholic community of the brutal force of the Protestant police and '"shifting the baton-case" is enough for him to adumbrate the constable to pull out his baton and turn violent.
Stanzas 8 and 9 talk about the policeman's departure. When the policeman "looked at me and said goodbye" we for once get a positive view of the officer. 'The word 'goodbye' is part of good manners and the use of the phrase indicates the constable is kind, or tries to retain Protestant pride. He feels the Catholics are rude and malign, which is ironic because it is the other way around, and intends on proving Protestants are not the same by maintaining etiquette by bidding farewell to young Heaney. Nonetheless we may look at it as if the policeman intends on intimidating Heaney. By 'looking at me' the audience may get the impression the constable feels sorry for Heaney, who will grow up to be like the hated Catholics. Then in stanza 9 the last line illustrates the bike going off in the distance. However, the quote "The bicycle ticked, ticked, ticked" is an allegory. Literally this quote conveys the sound of the bicycle ticking (onomatopoeia) away into the distance. On the metaphorical level this quote implies the ongoing feud will explode into war. 'Ticking' represents the ticking sound of a clock on a bomb. Through this quote Heaney was perhaps trying to say the political situation in Northern Ireland when he was a boy was like a time-bomb ready to explode in the faces of the Irish.
How does this link in with Heaney's other poems?
The poem 'A Constable Calls' link in with many of Heaney's poems as they all share the theme of childhood memories. This includes 'Mid-term Break', 'Digging', ''The Early Purges', 'Blackberry picking' and 'Follower'. This similarity expresses Heaney's childhood was full of events that have shaped who he is today. Just like 'A Constable Calls' they are memory poems which the detail has brought the past vividly to life and are evidence of how indelibly these events from his childhood have been imprinted in his mind - much like the bevel marks from the constable's cap on his "slightly sweating hair". There is also a relation between another poem that we haven't looked at in class, and this link is made in the last line, "And the bicycle ticked, ticked, ticked." There is a strong contrast between the ominous imagery here and the rhythmic "tick of two clocks" in the poem Sunlight, which also is set on Heaney's family farm.