Digging

Digging
by Seamus Heaney

Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests; 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.

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.

By God, the old man could handle a spade.
Just like his old man.

My grandfather 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, going down and down
For the good turf. Digging.

The cold smell of potato mould, 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.

Digging
Summary "Digging" Popularity: Seamus Heaney, a distinguished Irish poet, playwright and translator, wrote this poem. Digging is a narrative poem and was first published in 1966 in his poetry collection, The Death of a Naturalist. The speaker's family tradition. Explain the importance of respect and hard work, along with family tradition.
"Digging" as a representative of hard work: The poem expresses the speaker's feelings for the tradition of his ancestors. The poem begins when the speaker sits at his desk with a pen in hand. He is distracted by the sound of digging coming from his garden where his father is preparing the field for potatoes. As he watches his father working in the garden, he remembers how his grandfather used to work in the same way in his garden. He proudly declares that the excavation is the tradition of his family. Although his ancestors have done nothing great, he finds greatness in his tireless work. He shows great respect for them and admits that he inherited the ability of digging from them. He relates that his ancestors used gardening tools and he used his intellectual strength.
Most important themes in "Dig": Identity, admiration and hard work are the notable themes of this poem. The poem presents the speaker's identity as opposed to his ancestors. The narrator is happy that he received the talent of digging from his family. First, he discusses the accomplishments and tireless efforts of his father and grandfather, and then provides a graphic description of the tools they used to prepare their fields. However, the poet's tool is his pen, which helps him delve into his memory and family history. The poet has his relationship with his family heritage with his pen and expertise.
Analysis of literary devices used in "digging"
Literary devices are tools that writers use to convey their emotions, ideas and topics in order to make texts more attractive to the reader us Heaney also used literary means in this poem to express his ideas. The analysis of the literary resources used in this poem is given below.

Enjambment: It is defined as a thought or clause that does not end in a line break; instead, go to the next line. For example,
"The cold smell of potato mold, the noise and the
slap of the soggy peat, the sharp cuts of a
edge Through live roots wake up in my head."

Images: Images are used to make readers perceive things that involve their five senses. For example, "Between my finger and my thumb", "The rough boot wedged in the ear, the shaft" and "The cold smell of potato mold, the noise and the slap".
Sounding: Sounding is the repetition of vowel sounds on the same line. For example, the / e / sound in “The squat pen rests; like a gun "and the sound of / ea / in" Nick and carefully slicing, shaking sod. "
Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of / l / in" The cold potato mold smell, squeak and slap ”and the sound of / ng / in“ Gently chip and slice, shake sod ”.
Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds on the same line in rapid succession. For example, the sound of / t / in "Tore off the high peaks, buried the bright edge deep" and the sound of / c / in "Of soggy peat, the sharp cuts of an edge."
Symbolism: Symbolism means using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. "Digging" symbolizes the tradition.
Simile: It is a rhetorical figure in which an implicit comparison is made between objects that are of a different nature using as or similar. For example, “The squat pen rests; adjusted like a pistol ”. Here the pen is compared to a weapon. Although not physically, a pen or a written word can also hurt people.
Analysis of the poetic devices used in the “excavation”
The poetic and literary devices are the same, but some are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some verses. There are eight stanzas in this poem. Each stanza varies in length.
Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-line stanza that was borrowed from Persian poetry containing patterns of rhyme or meters. This is a poem in free verse with no strict rhyme or meter.
Repetition: The following lines are repeated in the first and last stanza of the poem, which has created a musical quality in the poem.
"Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests."

Refrain: The lines that are repeated some distance away in the poems are called the refrain. The following verses are repeated with the same words. They became refrains as they were repeated in the first and last stanzas of the poem. For example
“Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen is resting. “

Quotations used
The following lines are suitable for children to understand how potatoes are grown. You can also use these lines to help the children understand the value of hard work.

“He rooted tall spikes, buried the light edge deep to sprinkle new potatoes we'd picked, and loved their cool toughness in our hands.

Death, Be Not Proud Dover Beach