Digging
by Seamus Heaney
F/H
Link to Bitesize video on slide 4
The poem
• Themes/ideas
• Man’s relationship
with nature
• Parent/Child
relationship
• Nature
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Key terms:
Metaphor
Symbolism
Onomatopoeia
Enjambment
Alliteration
Sibilance
Repetition
Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests; as snug as a gun.
lug
(line
10)
the flattened top
edge of the spade
blade, against
which the digger
pushes with his
foot
Nine stanzas of
varying length; this
could reflect the
unpredictable nature
of memories as the
come back to the
poet
Under my window a clean rasping sound
When the spade sinks into gravelly ground:
My father, digging. I look down
5
potato
drills
(line 8)
Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds
Bends low, comes up twenty years away
Stooping in rhythm through potato drills
Where he was digging.
parallel ridges in
the earth for
growing potatoes
The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft
10
Against the inside knee was levered firmly.
He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep
To scatter new potatoes that we picked
Loving their cool hardness in our hands.
15
By God, the old man could handle a spade,
Just like his old man.
My grandfather could cut more turf in a day
Than any other man on Toner's bog.
Once I carried him milk in a bottle
Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up
To drink it, then fell to right away
20
Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods
Over his shoulder, digging down and down
For the good turf. Digging.
The cold smell of potato mold, the squelch and slap
Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge
Through living roots awaken in my head.
But I've no spade to follow men like them.
Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I'll dig with it.
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30
25
Heaney sees his father, an
old man, digging the
flowerbeds. He remembers
how his younger, stronger
father used to dig in the
potato fields when Heaney
was a child - and how his
grandfather, before that,
was an expert turf digger.
There is more than one
possible meaning to this
title. What are they?
Heaney mixes
tenses to
emphasise the
act of
remembering 5
Enjambment
between stanza
1 and 2 shows
his mind
‘running’ into
the memory 10
Past tense
until the last
two stanzas
as Heaney
‘digs’ back
into the
memory
Digging
Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests; as snug as a gun.
Under my window a clean rasping sound
When the spade sinks into gravelly ground:
My father, digging. I look down
Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds
Bends low, comes up twenty years away
Stooping in rhythm through potato drills
Where he was digging.
Physical digging of
the father and
grandfather
Heaney’s ‘digging’
into the past
(memories)
Present tense,
immediacy
This stanza marks the
start of his
reminiscence and he
describes it visually,
mixing tenses
The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft
Against the inside knee was levered firmly.
He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep
To scatter new potatoes that we picked
Loving their cool hardness in our hands.
Sibilant ‘s’ sounds suggest the slicing of the spade whilst
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the alliterative ‘g’s suggest
the resistance of the ground
Heaney
describes his
holding of the
pen in similar
detail to his
father holding
the shovel.
Why?
This attention to
his father allows
him to describe
the process in
detail
Digging
Fits in his hand and is
powerful, much like the
spade of his father’s
Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests; as snug as a gun.
The poet looks down
on his father; this
Under my window a clean rasping sound
contrasts with the
When the spade sinks into gravelly ground: later image of him
My father, digging. I look down
‘looking up’ to him as
a child. What does
Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds this suggest about
Bends low, comes up twenty years away
heir relationship
Stooping in rhythm through potato drills
Emphasise his
Where he was digging.
father’s skill and
connection with
The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft
the land and the
Against the inside knee was levered firmly.
He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep work
To scatter new potatoes that we picked
Loving their cool hardness in our hands.
Heaney remembers helping his father when he dug potatoes. It evokes an
image of a young Heaney closely watching
F/H his father at work. Possibly with
the childlike admiration that seems to be in this poem
Simple explanation of how he admires his father.
Could it be tinged with regret that his father is no
longer the powerful man he was?
Heaney
metaphorically
digs further
into the past
15
20
The repeated phrase
could give a sense of the
loving bond shared across
the generations
By God, the old man could handle a spade,
Just like his old man.
My grandfather could cut more turf in a day
Than any other man on Toner's bog.
Once I carried him milk in a bottle
Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up
To drink it, then fell to right away
Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods
Over his shoulder, digging down and down
For the good turf. Digging.
Heaney’s pride extends to his grandfather too. He was strong and
skilled and hard-working and once again, Heaney helped him
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Onomatopoeia forces the
reader to share in the
vividity of the memory
As do the other appeals to the
senses throughout the poem
Alliterative ‘c’
sounds
emphasise the
neatness of the
cuts his
grandfather
made
25
30
The cold smell of potato mold, the squelch and slap
Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge
Through living roots awaken in my head.
What are the
But I've no spade to follow men like them.
meanings of ‘living
Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I'll dig with it.
Why does he have ‘no spade’?
Change of culture
meaning he’s not
required to dig?
roots’ and how can
they awaken in
Heaney’s head?
Does he regret not having the
spade?
Does he feel as if his father and
grandfather would be disappointed in him?
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Repetition of the opening
stanza without the gun
simile
What is the
significance of
this decision?
25
30
Return to the
The cold smell of potato mold, the squelch and slap
present tense
Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge
and then into
Through living roots awaken in my head.
the future at
But I've no spade to follow men like them.
the end.
Emphasising
Between my finger and my thumb
Heaney’s
The squat pen rests.
determination
I'll dig with it.
Heaney’s pen now becomes a spade with
which he will explore his past in the same
way as he has in this poem
This is a return to his roots, in a sense
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What is the effect of the repetition
of ‘digging’ and ‘dig’ throughout
the poem?
Comparisons
• Song of the Old Mother
• Both poems deal with the relationship between
generations, and both describe hard, physical work
• But the Old Mother is bitter about the drudgery which
she must do; while Heaney's poem celebrates the work
as creative.
• Catrin
• Both poems are intensely personal
• Both poems deal with the bonds between the
generations - in Clarke's poem a mother addresses her
child, while in Heaney's a son talks about his father and
grandfather.
What other comparisons
are there?
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Review
• How does the poem explore ideas of heritage
and family tradition?
• What does the poem suggest about physical
labour?
• Explain in your own words the image in the last
line of the poem.
• What is Heaney’s relationship with nature?
• Should this poem be read with pride, regret or
sorrow? Find quotations to prove all three
possibilities.
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