Delving: An Explication of Seamus Heaney’s “Digging”

754 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Industrialization of Ireland

Heaney grew up at a time in Irish history when there was controversy as to whether young men should work in rising industry, gain their education, serve in the military or stay with their familiar family farm. Heaney very obviously chose to gain an education as he won a scholarship to attend a Catholic boarding school when he was twelve years old; he then went on to go to college where he embraced knowledge (Seamus Heaney - Biographical). In “Digging,” Heaney uses images he gained as he viewed his father and grandfather to portray qualities applied in work which he plans to carry from older generations of work to apply in his own work as a writer. For example, he uses symbols such as a spade both his father and grandfather used that interconnects with his pen of power, or the pen he uses to write poems, to emphasize the strength, or the spade, his knowledge provides in his poetry as it opens to the public. Heaney has written explicitly in his poem, “Digging,” to illustrate his purpose of reassuring himself that he is measuring up to his proud heritage as he publishes his first book of poetry to the public view with his pen of power through imagery of digging.
Before his debut book of poetry which contained “Digging” was published, Heaney had grown up experiencing the industrial revolution firsthand when he moved from his family farm to a Catholic boarding school in Derry. In this move, he went from living in a rural country to an urban city where he was surrounded with industrial outlooks on society. Thus, he gained a greater understanding of subjects such as writing which benefitted him in the way that he became an educated poet. Yet, Heaney admits in a lecture to a classroom full of students that he did struggle with poetry a...

... middle of paper ...

...troduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Comp. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Custom Edition for Eastern Arizona College ed. New York: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2010. 616-17. Print.
Heaney, Seamus J. "Feeling Into Words." Lecture. Oct. 1974. Thepdfportal.com. Thepdfportal.com. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.
Moore, Andrew. "Heaney - Poems." Heaney - Poems. Andrew Moore, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. .
"Seamus Heaney." Poetry for Students. Vol. 5. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1999. 69-77. Print.
"Seamus Heaney - Biographical". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2013. Web. 3 Mar 2014.
"Work and Poverty." - Children and Poverty, Early Industrial Society, Child Labor in Industrial Society, Family Economies. The Gale Group, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Discovering Kay Ryan

    1191 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ryan reminds us of the suggestive power of poetry–how it elicits and rewards the reader’s intellect, imagination, and emotions. I like to think that Ryan’s magnificently compressed poetry – along with the emergence of other new masters of the short poem like Timothy Murphy and H.L. Hix and the veteran maestri like Ted Kooser and Dick Davis – signals a return to concision and intensity.

    Read More

  • American Poets: Biography of E. E. Cummings

    1546 Words  | 4 Pages

    Constantakis, Sara. "Since Feeling Is First." Poetry for Students. Vol. 34. Detroit: Gale / Cengage Learning, 2008. 171-81. Print.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Backyard Blues By Natasha Trethewey

    822 Words  | 2 Pages

    Part I is particularly anecdotal, with many of the poems relating to the death of Trethewey’s mother. The first part begins with an epitaph from the traditional Wayfaring Stranger, which introduces the movement of the soul after death, and the journey towards the ‘home’ beyond. In “Graveyard Blues”, Trethewey examines the definition of “home” as a place of lament, in contrast to the comforting meaning in the epitaph beginning Part I, and the significance of the soul’s movement after death. The ‘home’ described in the epitaph is a place of comfort and familiarity, where the speaker returns to their mother. In contrast, Trethewey describes the ‘home’ she returns to after her mother’s death as a hollow place, the journey back to which is incredibly

    Read More

  • Comparison of Robert Frost's and Seamus Heaney’s poetry,

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ttachment or emotion. Again, Heaney repeats the use of a discourse marker, to highlight how vividly he remembers the terrible time “Next morning, I went up into the room”. In contrast to the rest of the poem, Heaney finally writes more personally, beginning with the personal pronoun “I”. He describes his memory with an atmosphere that is soft and peaceful “Snowdrops and Candles soothed the bedside” as opposed to the harsh and angry adjectives previously used such as “stanched” and “crying”. With this, Heaney is becoming more and more intimate with his time alone with his brother’s body, and can finally get peace of mind about the death, but still finding the inevitable sadness one feels with the loss of a loved one “A four foot box, a foot for every year”, indirectly telling the reader how young his brother was, and describing that how unfortunate the death was.

    Read More

  • Nomos vs. Physis in Sophocles’Antigone and the Modern World

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Ed. Joseph Terry. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc, 2001. 123-154.

    Read More

  • The Power of Araby by James Joyce

    1923 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... In Teaching Short Fiction 9.2 (2009): 102-108. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • Examine how Heaney presents his relationship with his father in

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    moved on, and that the young boy has now become older, as so did his father. I am a father. The poet, Heaney, says in verse 7, stanza 3, "till his straining rump along the flowerbeds", this verse indicates that his father is old, and strains as he bends over to the flowerbeds, but Even though the father is aging, he is still a strong man who can still hold a spade of light. Also, in the poem Digging, it mentions about the grandfather of the poet,. Heaney describes his grandfather through a series of recollections he had with him.

    Read More

  • Comparing Digging and Follower by Seamus Heaney

    1856 Words  | 4 Pages

    career). The word "squat" makes it seem as if he is eager to write and

    Read More

  • Seamus Heaneys Poem, Digging

    1343 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Modernist theme of mechanization, brought on by the beginning of World War I and the technological revolution of the era, manifests itself powerfully and completely in the language of Seamus Heaneys first poem, Digging. From various literary devices, as well as graphic imagery the mechanization of the human spirit comes to life in the form of his father, and grandfather. The past and present become one, with the common bond the honest work of the Irish poor. In his own way, and with his own pen, Heaney develops the idea of mechanized men who, through the drudgery and repetition of their lives, create a life for them and their families, taking pride in their work, and acceptance of their fate. He develops seamlessly the idea of a man-machine, a hybrid of automation and human, married by toil and tool. Likewise, Heaney writes this as a way to tie himself to his ancestors in the British Isles, illustrating the power that they wielded with shovel and sweat, making their contribution no less enlightened than his own. In his first poem, Heaney develops the image of mechanization and automation that follows the poor of his country, through graphic imagery, sound, and literary mastery. Heaneys imagery throughout the poem echoes the automation of the workers, illustrating the type of work that they do as something that could be done by machinery. Titling the piece Digging immediately highlights for the reader the verbal connotation of the work, and puts the theme of work, and of manual labor into the limelight. As well, Heaneys use of the word gun to describe his “squat pen” in line 2 places the emphasis on machinery allowing a comparison of the human condition to present technology. This theme continues throughout the poem, as He...

    Read More

  • Funeral Rites, explore Seamus Heaney’s attitude to Death in North.

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    The second and third stanzas of Funeral Rites are highly descriptive, as Heaney describes ‘their puffed knuckles’. This close, sensory description of the body is present in many of his bog poems, but specifically in The Grauballe Man, as, similar to Funeral Rites, Heaney dedicates multiple stanzas to the direct, det...

    Read More

  • Personal Helicon Poem Analysis

    549 Words  | 2 Pages

    Seamus Heaney’s “Personal Helicon” reflects on the past, illuminating the clash between innocent curiosity of adolescence and wide-ranging moralities expected of adults. Although the poem lacks extreme, unnecessary sentiment, the speaker manages to personally connect himself with nature in order to create an enjoyable, wistful tone. The poet incorporates intense, powerful vocabulary in order to enhance the lines, which allows the reader to comprehend the recollections with greater illustrations and feel.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Seamus Heaney's Digging

    759 Words  | 2 Pages

    I feel intrigued by the poem Digging because of how relatable it is, daydreaming happens to all of us as well as breaking family tradition. When he says “Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.” I can see this directly talking about myself writing this paper. I chose this poem because I feel like sometimes in life people just need to sit back and reminisce on the past and that’s something I love to do; I love talking about old memories around close friends and family. I also think it is fine to break a family tradition as long as you are following your dreams.

    Read More

  • Follower and Digging by Seamus Heaney

    2331 Words  | 5 Pages

    Follower and Digging by Seamus Heaney In his poems ‘Follower and Digging’ Heaney is thinking about his

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Digging And Digging

    1612 Words  | 4 Pages

    In “Digging”, the structure of the poem is more of a “free verse”, in which poetry does not rhyme or have a regular meter. Usually when you dig into the ground, you will end up getting deeper and deeper into the ground. Later when you dig far enough to the point you hit something or find something interesting, that would be your treasure and goal. For Heaney, the more thoughts and hard work he put into his poems and writing, the more he wrote, which made him a popular poet today because of his passion for writing poetry, from his childhood days till adulthood.

    Read More

  • W.B. Yeats' September 1913 and Easter 1916 Poem

    942 Words  | 2 Pages

    The poem September 1913 focuses on the time where the Irish Independence was at its highest. Yeats repeats the phrase “romantic Ireland” a lot in this poem as it refers to the sacrifice of the materialistic things for independence and freedom. To further emphasize the importance and greatness of the revolution, Yeats pointed out the names of heroic individuals who gave their lives to fight for the cause. Yeats did not give any detail about the Irish heroes but he does state that “they have gone about the world like wind” (11). The heroes were so famous; their names could be heard and talked about all over the world. In this poem, Yeats does not go directly in to detail about the historical events that happened but fo...

    Read More

More about Delving: An Explication of Seamus Heaney’s “Digging”

Open Document