Comparing Follower and Digging by Seamus Heany

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Comparing ' Follower ' and ' Digging '

        The title ' Follower ' intrigues curiosity for what the poem is about, and what is doing the following. This poem, the ' Follower ', is about the writer looking up to his father whilst he ploughs some land, and how the roles have changed. The title ' Digging ' is quite plain, and unusual for a poem, which in a way would intrigue the reader to see what the poem was about. ' Digging ' is about the writer looking out of his window and seeing his father digging, then reminiscing about his grandfather digging. Both these titles intrigue the reader, because they are one word titles.

        The ' Follower ' contains imagery that use the writer's perspective as a child, like referring to his father's shoulders as ' a full said strung between the shafts and the furrow '. This might have been because as a young child he would have seen his dad's shoulders as being very broad and triangular, however it's not really an insult, more of a compliment as he looks up to his father. In ' Digging ' the writer looks up to his father by saying ' by God, the old man could handle a spade '. Although this is colloquial language, it sort of shows the tradition of handling a spade throughout his family's generations. So in both poems the writer looks up to his father.

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        In the ' Follower ' the writer wants to be able to plough a field -

        

        ' I wanted to grow up and plough, To close one eye, stiffen my arm '

and he describes his father as being ' An expert. ' using his tools and plough. In ' Digging ' he changes his perspective on it, and says :-

        ' But I've no spade to follow men like them.

         Between my finger and my thumb

         The squat pen rests.

         I'll dig with it. '

This shows how he doesn't want to follow ...

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