Summary

This poem is autobiographical in nature. The speaker, presumably Heaney, is

sitting at his writing desk, preparing to write, when he hears his father working in
the garden outside. This conjures memories of the speaker as a young boy,
listening and watching as his father digs in the potato garden. The speaker
marvels at how well his father digs, which conjures an even older memory of his
grandfather, his father’s father, completing the arduous task of digging through
peat moss. Toward the end of the poem, the speaker writes as though he can
smell the potatoes from the garden and the peat moss his grandfather has dug.
He confesses that he does not have a spade like the two generations before him,
but he does have a pen which he will use to “dig.”

Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.
Simile: is a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different
kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid (e.g. as brave as a lion ).

The first stanza contains only two lines. The speaker is focusing on the pen in his
hand. Heaney utilizes a simile, telling the reader the pen rests “snug as a gun.”
The reference to a gun is no coincidence: Heaney expects the reader to infer that
the pen is his instrument, his weapon. This idea will repeat itself in the last stanza
of the poem.

Under my window, a clean rasping sound

(…)
My father, digging. I look down
In the second stanza, the speaker hears the sound of his father’s garden spade
sinking “into gravelly ground.” He gazes down at his father while he works in the
garden. There is no punctuation at the end of the last line in stanza two, the
thought is continued into the third stanza.
Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds
(…)
Where he was digging.
Heaney utilizes a flashback quite cleverly in the third stanza. The speaker is
suddenly transported to twenty years ago, watching his father complete the same
task.

The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft

(…)
Loving their cool hardness in our hands.
The fourth stanza is rich in description, as the speaker paints the image of his
father digging through the potato beds.

By God, the old man could handle a spade.

Just like his old man.
The fifth stanza is comprised of just two simple lines as the speaker marvels at
his father. The reader is then transported even further through time as the
speaker then conjures images of his grandfather performing a similar task.

My grandfather cut more turf in a day

(…)
For the good turf. Digging.
The eight lines contained in the sixth stanza are the longest in the poem. The first
two lines read:

My grandfather cut more turf in a day

Than any other man on Toner’s bog.
Here, the reader gets a glimpse into the setting of the poem. In Ireland, peat
moss has been used as an alternative to coal. Cutting turf is an incredibly
grueling task and the fact that Heaney claims his grandfather could cut more than
any other man signifies not only the physical strength of his grandfather, but
Heaney’s own admiration for the hard work his grandfather was able to do by
himself.

He then shares an anecdote with his reader as he describes encountering his

grandfather out on the bog one day. The speaker describes a day when he
brought a bottle of milk to his grandfather. Heaney’s grandfather barely stops his
work, quickly drinking the milk and then returning to digging and cutting.

Stanza Seven
The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap
(…)
But I’ve no spade to follow men like them.
The seventh stanza returns the reader to the present day, as the speaker sits at
his writing desk.

The memories are so vivid and alive in the speaker that he can actually smell the
freshly dug potatoes and the “soggy peat”. He can hear the sound the peat made
as it was cut. The speaker realizes that unlike his father and grandfather, he has
no spade to follow in their footsteps.

Stanza Eight
Between my finger and my thumb
(…)
I’ll dig with it.

What he does have, however, is revealed in the eighth and final stanza, which
contains only three lines. Much is contained in these three simple lines. First,
Heaney uses repetition, as once again, he describes holding his pen between his
finger and thumb.

Heaney’s diction here is also curious, as he uses the word “squat” to describe his
instrument. While it can describe the physical appearance of the pen
itself, Heaney could also be showing the connection between himself and his
father and grandfather, both of whom would have to squat in order to properly dig
for the potatoes and peat moss. The last line, “I’ll dig with it,” signifies that while
Heaney realizes his instrument is different from previous generations, he is still
completing an arduous task. While his father and grandfather dug for potatoes
and moss, he is digging for the right word, constantly attempting to create
sustenance through his words.

Historical Significance
While this poem certainly is not political in nature, it does give a glimpse into the
lives of hardworking Irishmen. In previous generations, men had to dig for both
food and fuel. Because Ireland does not have a wealth of coal, men often had to
dig through the bogs to acquire enough peat moss that could be burned as an
alternative means of fuel.