Harvard's already impressive list of 34 Nobel Laureates grew by one more yesterday with the awarding of the 1995 Nobel Prize for Literature to Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and Boylston professor of rhetoric and oratory.

Heaney is the first Harvard Professor ever to win the Nobel Prize in Literature and the first Harvard faculty member to receive the prize since 1990.

Heaney will teach two creative writing classes at Harvard this spring: English Sbr: "The Practice of Poetry" and English 161w: "Irish Poetry Since Yeats."

"Seamus Heaney is one of the great poets of our century. He has written verse that is moving, always complex and yet powerful in its simplicity--'so pellucid it can never be muddied,' to borrow one of his lines," President Neil L. Rudenstine said in a press release yesterday. "Harvard has long been fortunate to have Seamus Heaney on its faculty, and the entire Harvard community joins with his admirers around the world in congratulating him."

The Swedish Academy of Letters awarded Heaney the prize "for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past."

Heaney, a 56-year-old native of Northern Ireland, will collect $1 million along with the recognition that comes with the prize.

"In a way we expected [Heaney to get the award]...We knew it was coming but we didn't know when," said Haviaris Stratis, a poet and novelist and a friend of Heaney's.

The main subject of Heaney's poetry is the religious strife in Northern Ireland. The poet resides in Dublin, usually spending one semester each year teaching at Harvard.

Students interviewed yesterday heaped praise on Heaney, saying they were delighted that his accomplishments were finally recognized.

"He's a wonderful person and a really warm guy," said Marta R. Weiss '97-'96, who took a creative writing class with Heaney in 1993.

Heaney's last book of poetry, Seeing Things, was published two years ago. He plans to have another book of poetry out next spring, colleagues said.

Faculty and friends last night celebrated Heaney's accomplishments at a reception in Lamont Library's Farnsworth Poetry Room.

"It's when he's here that the place feels most alive," said local author Askold Melnyczuk. "He's been a great poet and in his last book he became a missionary."

"No one knows a great poet who's as great a human being," Stratis said, "Generous, compassionate, warm--and great drinking company."

Director of Writing Programs for the Division of Continuing Education David S. Gewanter said, "Harvard's been a center of modern literature and this will certainly draw attention to Harvard's role in contemporary English.

Heaney is currently vacationing in Greece and could not be reached for comment yesterday