The poem “Digging” was written by Seamus in 1964 and was one of the first poems he wrote. This poem is about a man looking down on his father digging in the garden both now and in the past. He reminisces about moments in the past of both his father and grandfather digging potatoes. This is a family tradition, however one that he can not continue with in the literal sense, but by writing poems and “digging” with his pen, he continues the tradition.
“Follower”, was written later than “Digging” and in many ways follows on from it, but this period of time is conveyed by the differences in the writing style. “Follower is about Heaney’s dad ploughing the fields, much in a digging manor, with himself “following” behind. This poem shows his father as someone he can look up to in life. The poem goes into description about the ploughing of the land showing his father as an expert in this field, however, he is left unable to follow in his fathers footsteps and turns to writing instead.
The similarities and differences of these poems are uncovered when the form and content is studied closely. If we start with the similarities in the content we can see many things and these similarities convey the continuation from Digging to Follower.
Both contain childhood memories, mainly of his father and references to digging. In “Digging” we can see how he looks down on his father digging in the garden and this moment takes him back 20 years:
“Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds bends low, comes up twenty years away”
Here Heaney is reminiscing about the past and how his father used to be, digging for potatoes. He uses the word “straining” to show how his father is now getting old and tiresome, but continues to dig. He reflects back on the past and how his father used to dig with great expertise.
In much the same way, “Follower looks back on his father working with the horse plough with Heaney following behind, watching his father digging in a different way:
“My father worked with a horse plough”
Again his father is digging in a different way but he continues to watch his every move conveying his father’s expertise. The word “worked” is key as it shows that his father no longer has the strength to continue what he loved to do so much and had obviously done for many years before. As Heaney looks back on his childhood, he remembers every detail in his mind, following the actions in his head as he digs to remember it.
Both these poems are revolved mainly around Heaney’s father. In “Digging”, his father is in the garden digging as he looks down:
“My father, digging.”
He sees his father digging and he remembers how he used to watch him 20 years ago to the very same thing. The way his father digs is described in great detail as he remembers it in his head. It is possible that this is one of the few memories he has of his father from past times and this is why he remembers it so well.
“Follower” is also based mainly on Heaney’s father and his memories of him. In “Follower”, Heaney follows his father around watching what he does taking note of everything as if he were to do this himself.
