The poet uses a lot of sensory imagery in this poem and it is very successful in making the flax-dam scene vivid for the reader. He describes frogspawn as “warm thick slobber” (line 8), this appeals to the readers senses of sight and touch. This description makes the reader feel what the frogspawn was like and imagine how it would look. Another good example of sensory imagery in this poem is “bluebottles wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell” (line 6). This makes the reader imagine the buzzing of so many flies and the rotting smell of the flax-dam. The sensory imagery engages the senses and really makes the poem come to life for the reader, they can see, feel, touch, smell and taste what is happening instead of just imagining it.
The use of language can be very effective in making a poem vivid, and Seamus Heaney uses a lot of very descriptive language in "The Death of a Naturalist". He uses onomatopoeia in the poem when talking about the flax-dam and the frogs, “gargled”, “slobber”, “slap”, “plop”. This language interests the reader and adds to the vivid picture created by Heaney. He also uses other techniques such as alliterations, “heavy headed (line 2), personification, “Bubbles gargled” (line 5), similes, “their loose necks pulsed like sails” (line 28), and assonances, “nimble-Swimming” (line 14-15). The kind of language and description Seamus Heaney uses does not create a scene appeals to the reader. Emotive language such as “festered”, “rotted”, “sweltered”, “rank” make the dam feel unpleasant, and then Heaney surprises the reader by saying that he liked it,
“But best of all was the warm thick slobber” (line 8).
As a child Seamus Heaney liked the flax-dam’s smell and sight, like most young boys would, he enjoyed the muckiness of it.
"The Early Purges" is set on a farm and is about when Seamus Heaney first saw kittens drowned as a child, and his reactions to this. At first he was upset and frightened, but later in the poem he changes his mind and thinks that if a farm is going to be run properly things like that have to be done. The way he changes his mind and becomes uncaring suggests that life in rural Ireland is hard drowning kittens has to be done to keep the farm going. There is a big contrast between his feelings as a boy and his later feelings as a man. Like in "The Death of a Naturalist" Seamus Heaney uses the technique of storytelling to make "The Early Purges" vivid for the reader, it makes them imagine themselves in that position, feeling what Heaney did for the kittens.
Seamus Heaney uses vulgar language in "The Early Purges", “the scraggy wee shits” (line 2), “bloody pups”, (line 21). This is effective in making the poem vivid because it shocks the reader and makes the poem more interesting for them. This kind of language shows that there is no pity or sorrow when killing the animals, they are not cared about or respected, they are just “pests”. The poem is about a young child and so it has a naïve feel about it, and this language is a great contrast to this.
"The Early Purges" is quite simplistic which makes it very childish. It does not use a lot of long complicated language, but the words and descriptions Seamus Heaney uses is very effective in making the poem vivid. The way in which he describes the kittens makes them sound innocent and helpless, “frail” (line 3), “soft” (line 4), and “tiny” (line 4). The reader can imagine the scene and feel sorry for the kittens. Heaney uses more simple but effective language for the kittens when they are dead,
“Like wet gloves they bobbed and shone till he sluiced
Them out on the dunghill, glossy and dead.” (Lines 11-12)
From this description the reader can vividly imagine how shiny and limp the dead animals are. The bodies are left in the sun and “Turn mealy and crisp” (line 18), this makes the reader picture them rotting and decaying.
Although the poem is about kittens being drowned, there is another hidden meaning in this poem. Seamus Heaney uses this poem to express his views and opinions about the political situation in Northern Ireland at that time. The kittens in "The Early Purges" are Northern Ireland; they are weak and helpless and are heartlessly destroyed by a boy. The boy is England; he is strong and powerful but does not think about anyone but himself. Seamus Heaney makes it clear in this poem that he does not agree with Britain ruling over Northern Ireland.
In "Digging" Seamus Heaney tells of his father, his grandfather and farming. He talks about how his father would do the gardening and imagine himself farming in his younger days. He wrote about how his father, like his grandfather, was a good farmer and how he himself never would be. His talent is poetry, using a pen not a spade. This poem is also a narrative. Like "The Death of a Naturalist" and "The Early Purges", Seamus Heaney uses an enjambment throughout the poem to make it more like a story. This poem does not have as much description as the other two, it is mainly actions which also makes it like a quite like a story.
Heaney uses this poem to show his thoughts and feelings about his father and grandfather. They were both good farmers and Seamus Heaney had respect and admiration for what they could do,
“By God, the old man could handle a spade.” (Line 15).
He was also proud of what good farmers they were,
“My grandfather could cut more turf in a day
Than any other man on Toner’s bog.” (Lines 17-18)
Despite what he feels for them, Heaney does not want to be a farmer like his father and grandfather,
“But I’ve no spade to follow men like them.” (Line 28)
He wants to be successful as they are, but he would rather have a pen than a spade,
“The squat pen rests
I’ll dig with it.” (Lines 30-31)
Seamus Heaney is saying that he wants to do with a pen what his father and grandfather have done with a spade. This point is emphasized by a repetition of
“Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests” (line 1-2).
This is used at the beginning and the end of the poem.
Seamus Heaney repeats the word “digging” throughout this poem; it reminds the reader of what Heaney is writing about and keeps a constant picture of farming and digging in the reader’s mind. Heaney uses sensory imagery to make the image of the digging vivid,
“The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap
Of soggy peat” (lines 25-26).
This description appeals to the reader’s senses of smell and sound and makes the reader recreate the scene for themselves. Seamus Heaney not only writes about the digging, but also the effect of it, “scatter new potatoes” (line 14). His grandfather was “heaving sods over his shoulder” (line 22-23). This creates a vivid image because the reader can see the turf thrown everywhere.
Seamus Heaney uses a great variety of different techniques that are successful in making "The Death of a Naturalist", "Digging", and "The Early Purges" vivid for the reader. They show his childhood was like in rural Ireland and what his thoughts and feelings are. All three of these poems show that life on an Irish farm can be cruel, harsh, dirty and smelly, but despite this Heaney still likes and enjoys it. His poems are honest and tell what life is really like, they show the reader what rural Ireland really is.
