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Seamus Heaney Digging

The wording used in this memory expresses that Heaney does not think potato digging is a leisurely or glamorous job. "The coarse boot nestled The shaft was levered firm." Such words give the imagery that potato digging was a hard and rough job. It gives the reader a sense that the digger had to be strong, sturdy and well built to carry out this occupation. Even then Seamus states that he "Loved the cool hardness in our hands." He shares a love for potato picking and the feel of finally rooting out the potatoes from the cold, solid ground. Heaney shows expressions of regret and possible guilt that he himself cannot carry out the same tasks as his forefathers before him, "BY God, the old man can handle a spade." The quote is used in the context so that Heaney seems to be disappointed he also cannot wield a spade. .
             Heaney's second memory is one of his grandfather digging turf on Toner's bog. He clearly expresses that his grandfather is a very successful digger, and can dig "more than any other man on Toner's bog." In fact he reveals that his grandfather was more than a successful digger but the most successful digger on the bog. Once again Heaney seems to be exploring his own feelings of inadequacy up against people with such high reputations. He feels that he can't maintain his ancestors long fought for status as a masterfully competent digger. His feelings of unworthiness are confirmed in his next recollection. "Once I brought him milk in a bottle, corked sloppily with paper." The fact that he thought his bottle was corked sloppily suggests that he feels he does not feel he can live up to his forefather's expectations and reputations. .
             An image that Heaney explores is his admiration for his father and grandfather. He is impressed with their ability with the spade and their just work ethics. He implies that his grandfather is very hard working in the fifth line of stanza six, "He straightened to drink, then fell to right away.


Essays Related to Seamus Heaney Digging

1. Digging by Seamus Heaney

In "Digging" by Seamus Heaney, Heaney compares his work as a writer to the work of his father and grandfather, both farmers who work the land. To Heaney, hard work is the kind of work his father and grandfather demonstrate in the fields; work that is physical and involves hard manual labor like "digging" up potatoes and turf. ... This is seen through Heaney's admiring tone when talking about his father and grandfather. When Heaney writes "By God, the old man could handle a spade.... In "Digging", Heaney feels that his writing is not as valuable as the ma...

  • Word Count: 715
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

2. A comparision of Digging and Follewer

An analysis of "Digging and "Follower" by Seamus Heaney The Irish have always been great harvesters and hard workers. ... In the poems "Digging" and "Follower" by Seamus Heaney, we, the audience, are treated to a look into Irish culture and "place". ... Another poem that details Heaney's youth and his father's digging is "Follower". ... Perhaps this represents Heaney's memories of past "digging" that are constantly "stumbling behind". ... "Digging" and "Follower" by Seamus Heaney, dissect the notion of "digging". ...

  • Word Count: 764
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Self reflection in Seamus Heaney poems

Seamus Heaney was born amongst the midst of Irish rebellions, only about two decades after the proclamation of the Irish Republic, to a family of traditional farmers. ... Here we see Seamus Heaney reflecting on himself as a patriot, fully seeing and understanding the sacrifices made by his earlier generations for the freedom of the Irish people. ... Through his poem Digging, Heaney talks about the harvesting of potatoes, with reference to the dark famine stage during Irish history, again reflecting on his country and origins, helping form the person that he is. ... Although he differentiate...

  • Word Count: 1879
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Changing Generations in Digging

In the poem "Digging" by Seamus Heaney, the narrator explores his ancestral roots through his observations of the occupations of his father and grandfather. ... This is evident in the quote, "My father, digging. ... "My father digging, I look down" (5). ... For all intents and purposes, Seamus Heaney's "Digging" is a poem that brings to the forefront of human consciousness themes of tradition, hard work, family, and all characteristics that such themes entail. Through the words of Heaney, readers witness the evolution in Heaney's thinking towards hi...

  • Word Count: 1042
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Digging

The poem "Digging" (533) by Seamus Heaney is about a person looking out of a window at their Father digging. ... Since Seamus Heaney is Irish there is an obvious link to his country. ... Digging!" ... I think that its more likely that Seamus Heaney feels comfortable around guns. ... On a surface level "Digging by Seamus Heaney was not all that interesting. ...

  • Word Count: 1143
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Parents in Digging and Those Winter Sunday

In the poems "Digging," by Seamus Heaney and "Those Winter Sundays," by Robert Hayden, both write about their father in reflective poems about childhood. ... When Seamus Heaney also writes about his father, in the poem "Digging," he speaks about his fathers work. ... Digging.... In "Digging" Seamus uses metaphoric tools to represent his connection with his father. ... Seamus Heaney was a young boy who grew up working along side his father on the farm. ...

  • Word Count: 816
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Comparison essay between Digging and Death of a Naturalist

I will compare the two poems of Seamus Heaney,Digging and Death of a Naturalist. ... The most important theme in the Heaney's poem and the most recurring is Nature . ... In "Digging" there is a break because the poet wanted to start a stanza where he looked back in time. ... On the other hand, in "Deathe of a Naturalist", Heaney used a lot of similes like ,"like clotted water","like snails" and "like mud grenades", to show how a child looks at things and starts imagining with it. ... I think that both poems have alot in common and yet a lot of differences.The main thing is how Seam...

  • Word Count: 630
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Continuity In Seamus Heaney's "Digging"

Many consider Seamus Heaney to be the greatest Irish poet of the late 20th Century. ... The first piece of this volume, "Digging," is especially significant in that establishes Heaney as a poet both in reality and symbolically: "Digging" symbolizes Heaney's departure from continuity by his choosing to be a poet rather than a farmer like his father, while also maintaining continuity through an extended metaphor in which Heaney suggests writing is his form of "digging." ... In these few simple words, Heaney makes the huge implication that by writing, the act which he felt he was called...

  • Word Count: 994
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Write a brief critical analysis of "Thatcher", isolating som

The poem "Thatcher" by Seamus Heaney is taken from a collection of the "Door into the Dark". ... In the first stanza, Heaney describes the thatcher getting ready to fix the roof. ... Heaney provides the reader with a more detailed description of the thatcher's actions. ... Typical of Heaney's early poetry is the simplicity in his style of writing. He talks a lot about plain things such as the soil, referring to "sods" in "Digging" and "Follower". ...

  • Word Count: 593
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

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