Here as you can see he is describing his father in the present tense. Where as in the poem “Digging” Seamus Heaney starts with the present tense.
(“Between my finger and my thumb, the squat pen rests”)
From lines 8-16, Seamus Heaney goes to the past. In these lines Heaney describes his father the way he digs. Therefore Seamus Heaney has gone to the past, where he describes his father digging potatoes.
From lines 17-24, Heaney goes in to further past tense. In theses lines Heaney compares his father with his grandfather. Heaney is trying to say that his father and his grandfather were equal and there was no one like them in the area.
In the lines 25 to the end the poem it-self finishes in the present. Seamus Heaney finishes the poem by saying, that instead of a spade in his hand he will actually hold a pen and write with that instead of digging.
Therefore the viewpoints between the two poems “Follower” and “Digging” are different. This is because the time shifts in each poem are taken place in different positions. However there are some similar things taking place in the poem. The two poems are taken place in Ireland on a farm. They are also both about his father.
Heaney describes his father by using the terms,
“Nicking and slicing neatly heaving sods.”
The reason why he uses the phrases above, because in this way he describes how his father and grandfather were both trained and experienced well. The better way to describe them are refined, neatly and precise.
In the poems, SeamusHeaney describes his father as a strong, muscular farmer. In the poem “Follower” he compares his father with horses and saying that they work as a team. (“The sweating team turned round.”)
Where as in the poem “Digging” he says that his father’s knee was levered firmly, which means his firm grasp or push is one with controlled force or pressure.
Seamus Heaney uses the words “squelch” and “slap” because squelch is full of water, therefore it’s good to describe the potatoes. Heaney uses the words “slap” because as he puts the potatoes on the side it makes a slapping sound,
In the poem “Digging” and “Follower” Heaney uses the devices alliteration, imagery, onomatophao, assonance and rhyme.
Heaney has used the alliterations in the poem “Digging” to describe his father. He has also used alliterations for words in sequences, which begins with the same sound.
(“ His shoulders globed like a full sail strung”)
Also he has used alliterations in “Digging” to describe many things.eg. Potatoes, pen, and many other words.
(“The squat pen rests; snug as a gun”)
There are about five sets of imagery in the poem “Follower”, where as in the poem “Digging” there are eight sets of imagery. Seamus Heaney has used imagery because he has said how his father looks. For example in the poem “Follower” he has said, (“His shoulder globed like a full sail strung”). In this case this means that his father looks like a full sail string from far because his shirt is blown by the wind. The example in the poem, “Digging” of imagery is: - (“The squat pen rests; snug as a gun”).Which means that he has used this phrase to describe the way he holds his pen tight.
Seamus Heaney has not used many onomatopoeia (sound). In the poem “Follower” he has only used the word “Clicking” and “Yapping”. Seamus has used the word “clicking” because in the whole sentence it means that the horses are actually listening to him as if they know Seamus’s father. He has also used the word “Yapping”, because here he describes him-self when he was young.
Assonance, meaning repetition of some vowel sound in a sequence of words. Seamus Heaney has used assonance in both poems. In the poem “Follower” he has used many assonance. (“Tripping. Falling”). He has used “Tripping and Falling” because this describes Seamus Heaney’s father is now “Tripping and Falling” behind him.
Also in the poem “Digging” he describes the spade, as it is in to the ground, in an assonance way, example- gravely, grand.
In my opinion my most favourable poem is “Follower” by Seamus Heaney. This is because I understand this poem better than the poem “Digging”. In this case, I believe that each word from the poem “Follower”, I understand from the bottom of my heart. I think Heaney has let down his father. This is because Heaney was the oldest from the nine children and Heaney’s father had a lot of faith on Heaney. When Heaney was young he used to follow the footsteps of his father but then Heaney let down his father. Then again, Heaney had given all the faith back to his father because, now he is one of the famous poet!!!
Mishal Noor Mohammed
