Later in the poem, Heaney shows a different view of his childhood. He concludes that he was an annoyance as a child, ‘I stumbled on his hob-nailed wake, Fell sometimes on the polished sod.’ This shows that he again felt that his father was an expert, and that he ruined his professional work. This is ironic, as he believes that he was a nuisance, yet it is his father who has inspired him to write the poem.
In the last two lines of Follower, Heaney shows the close relationship he and his father have now. ‘It is my father who keeps stumbling, Behind me, and will not go away.’ This demonstrates two things, the first being that his father is now too old to dominate his son. The second thing is that Heaney is now the professional, and it’s his father doing the ‘following’ now.
Follower and Digging are similar to each other, mainly because of their themes. They both show Heaney’s childhood and his relationship with his father. I will now write about Digging. I will firstly explain the poem, and then I will compare the two poems, and indicate the similarities and differences between them.
In the first two lines of Digging, we quickly establish that Heaney is a writer. The evidence for this is, ‘Between my finger and my thumb, The squat pen rests; as snug as a gun.’
In contrast, the second stanza deals with Heaney’s father. We recognise the fact that his father took on another trade; farming. This can be proved by, ‘My father digging.’ Alliteration is used well in Digging, for example, the repetition of ‘d’ and ‘g’. This simulates the noises of a spade slicing the earth. Alliteration is also used to show his father’s constant rhythm in his digging. This is shown by, ‘When the spade sinks into the gravely ground.’
Heaney uses the word ‘rasping’ to show annoyance. The long ‘s’ and ‘p’ makes the word drag on, just like he feels he did as a child.
The words ‘nestled’ and ‘levered firmly’ give us an indication of the professionalism of Heaney’s father. It shows that he knew exactly where and how to dig suing a spade, with as little effort as possible. ‘Rooted’ is a very ambiguous word. It literally means that it is a reference to agriculture and digging, indicating the roots of plants. Metaphorically, it means that Heaney is creating the roots of his writing career. This is very ironic, because he decides that he doesn’t like farming, but he writes several poems about it.
The use of ‘we’ and ‘our’ suggest that Heaney and his father had a very close relationship. It shows that they did everything as a pair. Everything they did was their work.
‘By God, the old man could handle a spade, Just like his old man.’ This quote shows colloquialism, because it sounds like ‘farmer’s language.’ It helps to emphasise the agricultural heritage in the family. It also helps to make the reader feel sucked in.
The image presented by, ‘Once I carried milk in a bottle…He straightened up to drink it, then fell to right away.’ Shows us that Heaney’s father grandfather was a dedicated worker. This links to the colloquialism because it indicates that he was a farmer through and through, both in his voice, and through his work.
In the sixth stanza, there is certain progressiveness in the words, ‘nicking’, ‘slicing’ and ‘heaving’. This demonstrates the work getting harder, as it illustrates the effort being put in by using onomatopoeia.
The seventh stanza of Digging shows a lot of the relationship between Heaney and his father. It quotes, ‘Through living roots awaken in my head, But I’ve no spade to follow men like them.’ This shows respect and pride for his peers. It also shows us that he didn’t think he had what it takes to be a farmer. In the last line, Heaney mentions digging with his pen; transferring his father’s expertise with a spade to ink and paper. Again, this shows pride, because he wants to have the same passion and motivation for writing as his father did for digging.
Digging and Follower are identical poems in terms of their themes. They both talk about Heaney’s childhood, his career, his agricultural background and most importantly, his relationship with his father. However, there are also some differences, as Follower shows that Heaney doesn’t want to be a farmer, while Digging shows that he has become an established writer.
