"Digging" by Seamus Heaney

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“Digging”

The poem “Digging” by Seamus Heaney is a very intriguing poem that carries across much meaning to the reader of the poem.  The dramatic situation that is described is a son, who appears to be a writer, looking back onto his past and thinking about the work his father and grandfather did.  Through the use of strong language and many poetic devices, Seamus Heaney has given a whole new meaning to the idea of ‘digging’.  Heaney uses precise words and a very effective style to portray the idea of a son looking back on the work of his ancestors and realizing just how he fits into his family’s history and tradition.  There are basically two ideas upon how the character fits into his family tradition.  The character has broken away from the farming custom of his family, but yet he still maintains the idea of creating and using tools very precisely with his new line of work, writing.  However, another interesting detail about the poem “Digging” is how the character in the poem can be seen as Seamus Heaney himself.  Heaney too was a writer and his family also ran a farm.  As a result of this, the poem acquires much more feeling and emotion and the author can be seen as talking about himself.  

When looking at the first stanza, one realizes that it is only two lines, however, this does not take away from its importance.  The character describes basically himself at the beginning of the poem.  Through the words, “Between my finger and my thumb/The squat pen rests;” the reader obtains the idea of how the character is a writer.  However, this stanza also goes on to describe how the character feels that his line of work, writing, is suited for him.  This is shown through the use a simile, “snug as a gun”.  The pen feels snug in his hand as though that is where it belongs.  These descriptions of the character will provide a basis to compare the people in the later parts of the poem to the main character, and whether they are different or the same.  

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As the poem progresses, Heaney begins to go into the past and describe the characters father.  The reader sees how the father was a farmer because of the fact that he is “digging”.  There are many harsh sounding words such as “rasping”, “gravelly ground” and “digging” give a harsher sound the overall idea of farming.  It shows how it was hard work, and maybe because of this, the character sees the strength in his father.  However despite this, there is also an idea of how farming was not all about brute strength and how it was also about technique ...

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