DIGGING

Digging is a poem written by Seamus Heaney, an Irish poet in the year 1966. It
comes from his first collection of poems entitled ‘Death of a Naturalist’. It is a
poem that not only marks Heaney’s entrance in the world of writing, but also
introduces Heaney and his background to the reader. This poem is written in
first person, the persona in the poem is strongly indicated to be the poet Heaney
himself.

This poem deals with Heaney’s admiration for his family’s profession, yet serves
as a justification as to why he broke free of family tradition to become a writer.
The first stanza ‘ Between my finger and my thumb, The squat pen rests; snug as
a gun’- tells us of Heaney’s level of comfort with the written word, so much so
that it is like second nature to him (in those times, men were very familiar with
the gun, especially since Heaney was from Northern Ireland where conflict was
always rampant-hence a man’s ability to defend himself and his family was
impertinent). He speaks of how perfectly it sits in his hand, and one gets a sense
of how content Heaney is with holding it. However, we can also infer that Heaney
sees the pen as a powerful weapon comparable to any gun- and hence this may
be his way of conveying his belief in the power of the written word to the reader.
Hence the use of this metaphor is unusual, but it effectively draws attention to
the similarities between the pen and guns- allowing the reader to not only draw
parallels between these two seemingly dissimilar objects, but also gives the
reader a glimpse of the violence he grew up in.

Heaney’s lack of use of a proper rhyme scheme in this poem lends it a stilted,
almost disjointed feel- but he has peppered the poem with some rhyming words
and alliterations that lends to the aural quality of the poem that appeals to the
reader’s senses. For example, in stanza two, he has rhymed ‘rasping sound’
together with ‘gravelly ground’. This sporadic rhyming ensures that the true
essence of the poem reaches the reader while also ensuring a flow and a beat to
the poem that makes reading it more enjoyable. Heaney also uses some strange
adjectives in his poem. For example he uses the word ‘clean’ to describe a
‘rasping sound’. This conjures up images of a spade sinking quickly and deftly
into the ground, with a metallic clink or rasp to the movement as the spade hits
the coarse ground. Hence, Heaney allows us to see and hear through his eyes
clearly through his creative use of words and imagery. Another instance is the
‘cold smell of potato mold’ and the ‘squelch and slap’- all these to evoke powerful
images in our minds that appeal to our senses. Heaney’s liberal use of verbs also
makes it an interesting read ,as mentally, it allows the reader to connect with his
father and grandfather. This allows a deep imprint of the poem into our minds,
making it a memorable sensory appearance.

The phrase in the second stanza ‘I look down’ has a powerful, pivotal meaning in
the poem. It could mean the author literally looking down on his father from
where he is being seated above in his house, but it could also mean that Heaney
saw himself above the sort of physical, manual labor his father was engaging in,
probably due to his higher level of education. It could also mean Heaney looking
down twenty years in time (almost like going down memory lane) to the past, as
seen in the next stanza ‘comes up twenty years away’. Hence this phrase could be
the transit to another time, as there is a noticeable tense change between the
second stanza (written in present tense) and the third stanza (written in past
tense). This phrase also brings to light a certain amount of distance or gap
between the father and son- implying that their relationship might not have been
very friendly.

The poem also clearly shows us the poet’s mixed feelings about the manual work
that his father is doing. On one hand he seems almost appalled by the taxing
nature of the work – hence the use of words like ‘straining rump’ and stooping in
rhythm’ to highlight the physical exertions this type of work requires. But on the
other hand, it is also implied that the poet himself may have enjoyed the manual
labour as in stanza four we see that he used to help to pick the new potatoes and
how much he loved their cool hardness.

The phrase ‘stooping in rhythm’ also implies that the persona knew that his
father probably enjoyed his work despite the mechanical nature of it. This is
further implied in the fourth stanza where he writes his father’s boot to be
‘nestled on the lug’ implying that the poet’s father shared a certain level of
comfort and love for his profession. However, Heaney’s appreciation and
acknowledgement of this hard work is apparent in ‘Loving their cool hardness in
our hands’. It also implies that Heaney is able to appreciate the simple things in
life- like harvesting new potatoes- even when he looks down memory lane.

Heaney’s pride and admiration for the hard work of his family is quite apparent
by the fifth stanza- the shortest stanza of the poem- which reads ‘ By God, the old
man could handle a spade, just like his old man’. This stanza has an surprised
tone to it, as if the thought had just crossed his mind that his father worked the
spade just like his grandfather. The usage of ‘by god’ implies the deep sense of
admiration that the poet has towards his father’s skill with the spade. It is almost
as if he were to be boasting to the reader about his father’s skill. This tells us that
although he himself is not part of the profession, Heaney is very much aware of
the hard work that his family has put in for generations, and that despite
choosing to do something different, he still acknoleges and embraces his family
traditions.
However, this stanza also marks the transition to another time further back
during the time of his grandfather, and is significant as it capsules the work of
two generations in one stanza. It shows that the farming and the manual labour
is a family tradition passed down from generation to generation.

The sixth stanza also highlights the poet’s admiration and pride for his family
legacy- he describes the ardrous labour that his grandfather used to engage in at
the bog with loving detail and proclaims him the best, saying that no one ever cut
more turf in a day than his grandfather.Here again, he also implies that like his
father, his grandfather too liked his profession- by describing his grandfather to
be ‘going down and down’. The poet also hints at a good but perfunctory
relationship with his grandfather- he mentions brining him milk in a rather
offhand, casual manner and the use of ‘once’ implies that maybe he did not do so
too often. The part where the milk bottle was ‘corked sloppily with paper’ also
tells us of the pragmatic, practical nature of the poet- he is not so much
interested in asthetic appearances.

Hence, by this point in the poem, we as readers understand that Heaney

probably spent a great deal of time watching his father and grandfather work as
he is able to recount their actions in almost loving detail. It is almost as if these
images are preserved in his mind-as seen in ‘through living roots awaken in my
head’. Heaney doesn’t try to deny or forget the literal roots of his family. Instead
he chooses to honor them and celebrate them unabashedly. It is almost as if he
were to be paying homage to the great work of his father and grandfather, and
how they worked to feed their families. He makes it apparent that he still is as
deeply connected to his roots and they are a part of him- but yet his admiration
is not his passion. He sees himself separate from his grandfather and father- he
groups them together- ‘men like them’. This could be his haughtiness speaking,
but after reading the entire poem and seeing the sincerity and the grounded
nature of Heaney, I am led to believe that he seems almost sad and sorry that he
does not have the inclination to follow them-‘but I’ve no spade to follow men like
them’.
The title of the poem-‘digging’- not only serves to summarize the profession of
his father and grandfather, but it may also serve to compare the different types
of digging in the poem (digging with a pen as compared to digging with a spade).
It may also suggest that the poem is Heaney’s way of digging or going back to
find and define his own roots and identity- almost like digging through his past.
The multiple meanings of the title and what they could signify adds different
dimensions and perspectives to the poem.

In essence, the whole poem is an extended metaphor. Heaney places constant

emphasis on the word ‘digging’ in every stanza, and his last stanza’s last phrase-
‘I’ll dig with it’ speaks of determination. It almost feels as if Heaney wants to do a
good job like his father and grandfather, and have the same dedication that they
had towards their profession. This phrase also speaks of hope and the hard work
that Heaney believes he will have to do in the future to hone and get to the heart
of his craft. It could also be a metaphor for digging through his memories. I do
also believe that by drawing parallels to digging with a pen and digging with a
spade, Heaney wants to establish that digging with the pen is his choice, and that
it can be comparable to the ardor of manual work. The poem also speaks of his
trouble in going away from the expected path to become a writer, while still
struggling to connect and cherish where he came from. He is almost trying to
justify his choice of profession. His love for the nature and his family is evident in
the poem, and the poem carries an almost wistful tone to it has he recollects the
significant and deeply imprinted memories from his childhood that he associates
with digging. Digging obviously has a deep meaning in his life and he has used his
personal connection to both the word and the action- literally and figuratively to
compose the poem.