Analysis Of The Poem “Digging” By Seamus Heaney

What do you think when you see the word “digging?” For many people, the first picture about the word “digging” may be about some guys digging in a mine for ore or digging in the ground for food. However, when people read the poem “Digging” by Seamus Heaney, they might have a new idea of it. Heaney was Irish poet, and he grew up in a farm family. On the surface, the poem seems only about a normal day for a boy who lives on a farm. However, when we look at the imagery and symbolism of the poem, we can see the deeper meaning of this poem which is more about how Heaney loves and is proud of his family, but he does not want to follow his family’s food steps to be a farmer; he would like to use his own way of “digging.”

On one hand, in the surface of this poem, Heaney describes a quiet and good life of an Irish farm family on a normal day. He shows a picture about Heaney is setting at his room writing with his pen, and his father was digging in the ground for potatoes. When Heaney hears the sound from his father’ spade, Heaney looks down the window and recalls the memory of giving a cup of milk to his grandfather, who could cut turf more than any other man, when he was little. After the memory, Heaney goes back to do his work. In this poem, Heaney says his father was very good at “handle a spade” because his father used the spade all the time. In the fourth stanza, Heaney writes that “(He) buried the bright edge deep.” He used “bright” to show the spade has been used for long time because usually when the spade has been used for a long time, the side of the spade will become bright, and the ground and potato cannot be bright. Also, Heaney says he and his family loves potatoes because of the “cool hardness in their hands” (Stanza four). In sum, in the poem, Heaney writes the gravelly ground and bog, spade and potato, and his father, grandfather and a living root. He was drawing a picture of his family as farmers.

On the other hand, we can look at imagery to find the deeper meaning of this poem, which is more about how Heaney loves his family, and he takes pride in his family because his family works hard for living. When we look at imagery in the poem, it can let us to understand the poem more. In the poem, by looking at the imagery, we can see Heaney loves his family because he has written many details about them on the poem. The poem has a lot of details means that Heaney has a strong memory about the things he has written in the poem. For instance, in the stanza two of this poem, Heaney writes “a clean rasping sound” and “sinks into gravelly ground.” In this case, he does not just say “the sound” or “the ground.” He puts some adjectives on it to make these two sentences more realistic. In fact, this vivid description can portray a clear picture for us about how a farmer does his job. Also, it also works well in stanza fourth. When Heaney describes that “The coarse boot nestled on the lug … (he) buried the bright edge deep.” This stanza has a same function that to show that Heaney can remember what his father wore and how his father did the action for dug potato.

In addition, Heaney is so proud of his family because his family has done the same thing day by day for living. Working hard seems easy to do when you only look at the word, but in fact, it is difficult to do especially do it for long time. In the poem, Heaney describes his father that “Bends low, comes up twenty years away … Where he was digging.” For twenty years, his father has been doing the same thing, and he did not complain about anything. Furthermore, in stanza fifth, Heaney uses “By God” to praise his father. The adoration from Heaney is so strong at this point. Moreover, Heaney’s grandfather is also a hard worker too. Heaney says his grandfather can “cut more turf in a day Than any other man.” From those sentences, we can feel that Heaney takes pride in his family and Heaney feels affection for his family. In addition, in the deeper meaning of the poem, Heaney uses symbolism to point out that he has a chance to make a change for his life style; Heaney would like to do this because he does not want to “dig” with spade but pen even though he is proud of his family. I

n fact, when writing poetry, poets usually pick words in purpose, and the words usually have special meaning. In the beginning of the poem, Heaney mentions that Heaney is holding a pen, and his father is holding a spade. “Pen” and “Spade” are two symbols in this poem, and they both have special meanings. According to the poem, Heaney writes that “The squat pen rests: snug as a gun.” Heaney equates holding a pen to holding a gun. Gun is weapon, and weapon usually represents power. To have power is very important because when you have power, you make selection for yourself, but if you do not, others will do it for you. Because Heaney’s father and grandfather may not have power, all they may be able to do is to dig potatoes for living. Heaney is holding “power” at his hand at this point. In comparison with gun, spade usually is held by farmer, and farmer usually represent little to no power.

In the poem, Heaney uses a whole stanza to describe his grandfather that when he gives a cup of milk to his grandfather, grandfather drinks the milk and then goes back to work immediately. His grandfather does not even have time to take a break. Heaney has a strong memory of it. Therefore, when Heaney compares holding a pen to having power or holding a spade to having less or no power, obviously, he will choose having power because when he has power, he can have choices and more possibilities. Heaney does not want to follow his father by using spade to dig potatoes. He would rather to use his way to “dig.”

In conclusion, “Digging” is a graceful poem. In professedly, Heaney writes about the normal life of a farmer, but in fact, the deeper meaning of this poem is about how he loves his family and how he does not want to follow his ancestor’s footsteps. Of course, the meaning of this poem will be many. Different people will have different feelings about it. However, no matter what the different meanings of this poem are. “Digging” still a wonderful poem to read.