Sonal Halai
Discussing two or three Poems in Detail, Explain how you think Heaney Develops our Understanding of the Nature of Humanity and Existence through Poetry
In this essay I will discuss the poems Digging, Wheels within Wheels and Toome. I will explain how Heaney develops our understanding of humanity and existence through the poems mentioned above. Heaney mainly uses poetic techniques to express and expand our understanding of the nature of existence and humanity. The ideas in Digging concern relationships to ancestors, and to work. Heaney describes his relationship to his father and grandfather purely in terms of their work on the land. He takes the idea of digging, the commonest form of work in any rural community, and uses it as a for productive, creative work in general, and for writing in particular. The idea in Wheels within Wheels are about life in the metaphor of a wheel. Toome is about the bog type land and the past.
I think Heaney develops our understanding of the nature of humanity by bringing the theme of relationships on the farm into this poem. Heaney's father has great skill when it comes to digging, "levered firmly. This shows the reader that country life is not all easy, and even to work on a farm, you need to have quite a lot of skill. The images produced by these words are very effective because they give the reader a picture of a man who is not only digging, but doing it with immense skill, which is not something which we usually associate with a job like that. This helps us understand why Heaney has chosen to talk about his past and digging. The continuation of farming from Heaney's grandfather, to Heaney's father, "the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man" shows the reader that country life is very family orientated, and professions are often carried down from father to son. The images of Heaney's father being taught to dig by his father are very powerful and effective, because they show the reader the strong bonds between humanity on a farm, and that human nature has not changed. The last line, "The squat pen rests. I'll dig with it." shows that in the country, it is often expected that people like Heaney will follow in their father's footsteps, but Heaney is seen here to choose to be a writer. The image of Heaney digging out his memories with pen are very effective because the reader can visualise the likeness between poetry and farming. Heaney uses alliterative language to go back to the roots of time and human existence ‘the spade sinks into gravelly ground’. In this quote alliteration is used a lot to recreate the feel and sensation of digging where the s sounds suggest the slicing of the blade through the earth, and the g sounds the gravelly resistance of the soil. Heaney recreates the understanding of the earth through language which is digging potatoes ‘rhythm through potato drills/ Where he was digging’. In the quote Heaney uses poetic tools like rhythm to go down and dig into his roots.
