By Seamus Heaney

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Digging
By Seamus Heaney
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Digging Between my finger and my thumbThe squat
pen rests as snug as a gun.Under my window a
clean rasping soundWhen the spade sinks into
gravelly groundMy father, digging. I look
downTill his straining rump among the
flowerbedsBends low, comes up twenty years
awayStooping in rhythm through potato
drillsWhere he was digging.The coarse boot
nestled on the lug, the shaftAgainst the inside
knee was levered firmly.He rooted out tall tops,
buried the bright edge deepTo scatter new
potatoes that we pickedLoving their cool
hardness in our hands.
By God, the old man could handle a spade,Just
like his old man.My grandfather could cut more
turf in a dayThan any other man on Toner's
bog.Once I carried him milk in a bottleCorked
sloppily with paper. He straightened upTo drink
it, then fell to right away Nicking and slicing
neatly, heaving sodsOver his shoulder, digging
down and downFor the good turf. Digging.The
cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and
slapOf soggy peat, the curt cuts of an
edgeThrough living roots awaken in my head.But
I've no spade to follow men like them.Between
my finger and my thumbThe squat pen rests.I'll
dig with it.
3
Between my finger and my thumbThe squat pen
rests as snug as a gun.
Why does Heaney use this simile?
How can a pen be used as a weapon?
4
Between my finger and my thumbThe squat pen
rests as snug as a gun.
Heaney uses this simile to express his belief
that he can use his pen instead of a gun, as a
weapon. It shows a new belief that you do not
always have to use violence to achieve your goal.
Even if you do resort to physical fighting there
is no guarantee that you will win.
5
Under my window a clean rasping soundWhen the
spade sinks into gravelly groundMy father,
digging. I look downTill his straining rump
among the flowerbedsBends low, comes up twenty
years awayStooping in rhythm through potato
drillsWhere he was digging.
Highlight any onomatopoeic words
What effect do these words have upon the reader?
What kind of a picture is Heaney creating?
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Under my window a clean rasping soundWhen the
spade sinks into gravelly groundMy father,
digging. I look downTill his straining rump
among the flowerbedsBends low, comes up twenty
years awayStooping in rhythm through potato
drillsWhere he was digging.
onomatopoeic words these words depict the image
of the act of digging.
Gravelly contains a number of meanings
How do we know Heaney is remembering?
twenty years
rhythm
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Gravelly is symbolic in that it refers to the
One Crop Law that was imposed on Ireland by
England. This law was later blamed for the
famine that struck Ireland when the potato crop
failed. Heaney shows the ground as grave like
because it was the physical cause for the famine.
The soil retained too much water resulting in
the potato crop rotting. This left the Irish
with no crop to eat. The message in the word
gravelly is therefore ambiguous and educates
the reader of the hardships Irish farmers faced
from the English oppressors. This is an example
of the pen as a weapon.
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Twenty years - watching his father digging in
the flowerbeds brings back memories of him
working in the potato fields. This memory is
what the author is choosing to document, British
tyranny towards the Irish. And by documenting
this unfair treatment, the author is using his
poetry as a weapon.
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Rhythm is intended to parallel the plight of
the Irish with an image of a slave as part of a
chain gang doing hard labour. During slavery, the
slaves would create songs and sing them to the
rhythm of their work. This would break the
monotony and also alleviate some of their stress.
Here Heaney is saying that the Irish were
captives and their unfavourable task was to
cultivate the potato fields.
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The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the
shaftAgainst the inside knee was levered
firmly.He rooted out tall tops, buried the
bright edge deepTo scatter new potatoes that we
pickedLoving their cool hardness in our hands.
What makes us think Heaney admires the art of
digging and farming?
By God, the old man could handle a spade,Just
like his old man.My grandfather could cut more
turf in a dayThan any other man on Toner's
bog.Once I carried him milk in a bottleCorked
sloppily with paper. He straightened upTo drink
it, then fell to right away Nicking and slicing
neatly, heaving sodsOver his shoulder, digging
down and downFor the good turf. Digging.
How does Heaney convey a sense of time and
injustice?
Is there a sense of futility throughout this
section?
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The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the
shaftAgainst the inside knee was levered
firmly.He rooted out tall tops, buried the
bright edge deepTo scatter new potatoes that we
pickedLoving their cool hardness in our hands.
This is a particularly descriptive and emotional
section of the poem where Heaney displays his
love and admiration for digging and farming. He
uses alliteration to create delicate and powerful
images for the reader.
By God, the old man could handle a spade,Just
like his old man.My grandfather could cut more
turf in a dayThan any other man on Toner's
bog.Once I carried him milk in a bottleCorked
sloppily with paper. He straightened upTo drink
it, then fell to right away Nicking and slicing
neatly, heaving sodsOver his shoulder, digging
down and downFor the good turf. Digging.
By choosing words with few syllables he creates
an artistic view of the simple act of digging
potatoes
By pointing out that his father could dig as well
as his grandfather gives the reader a sense of
time, informing the audience of just how long
this unjust practice had been taking place for.
Digging is paralleled with the rebellion in that
their acts are getting them nowhere but into a
deeper and deeper situation.
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The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and
slapOf soggy peat, the curt cuts of an
edgeThrough living roots awaken in my head.But
I've no spade to follow men like them.Between
my finger and my thumbThe squat pen rests.I'll
dig with it.
What does Heaney mean by living roots awaken in
my head?
Is he disappointed at not being able to work the
land?
What does he mean by hell dig with it?
Vs
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Heaney is not letting his fathers actions die a
futile death. Instead he has made his fathers
memories seeds in his mind, very much alive, at
root in his existence.
The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and
slapOf soggy peat, the curt cuts of an
edgeThrough living roots awaken in my head.But
I've no spade to follow men like them.
Heaney is disappointed that he cant ever be like
his father or grandfather, however he doesnt
provide the reasons why in the poem. However at
the end of the poem there is a real sense that he
knows what he can achieve as an individual.
Vs
14
Between my finger and my thumbThe squat pen
rests.I'll dig with it.
This final line is open to much interpretation.
It is a confident statement where the idea of
using a pen to dig is very similar to that of a
newspaper reporter uses a pen. It is the job of
a journalist to uncover hidden information so
that it can be known. This is exactly what
Heaney wants to do in his work and has
accomplished in this poem. He has unearthed the
cruel policy of the One Crop Law and in doing so,
has provided a contemporary audience with an
understanding of the conflict between the British
and the Irish.
Digging and writing do have strong parallels, in
that a writer digs in their mind and that digging
and writing are both constructive processes. The
former digs in order to get nourishment for the
body, as a writer writes for nourishment of the
mind. For Heaney the pen is a weapon to speak
out for what he believes in.
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The End