Seamus Heaney Anthology

-Analysis on “Digging”

        In this poem “Digging”of Seamus Heaney the author was inspired while reminiscing his father and grandfather at work- digging. Heaney constantly show admiration for his elders and expresses a confessional and self-deprecated attitude towards them because he wishes become as good as his father and grandfather at digging but he does not posses the ability to do so. The poem is written in free verse and divided into eight stanzas, the first and last stanza reveals the speaker's thought after seeing he elders at work. The second to sixth stanza are visual imageries portraying his father and grandfather at work at work yet there is a significant shift in the tone at the end of seventh stanza as the speaker reflects upon the scenes. Heaney shows the significance of the title by making a series of repetitions of the word “digging” throughout the poem. The possible theme of this poem is family heritage and the title of the poem is significant relating to it, we can imply that potato farming is a Heaney's  family tradition and the word “digging” symbolizes this family tradition.

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        The poem is written in the first-person perspective as the “I” in the poem represents the author himself and he  expresses a confessional and self-deprecated tone throughout while showing admiration for his father and grandfather by making them sound more superior than he is . The tone of the speaker suggests that although he admires his family tradition of digging and farming but and has not got the ability to match up and “[he has] no spade to follow men like” his father and grandfather. Heaney's use of words to describe himself such as “squat” and “sloppily”and confessing “But I ...

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