Digging By: Seamus Heaney

1. Digging By: Seamus Heaney Molly Calhoon Broderick Yoerg

2. Seamus Heaney (1939-Today) Born in Northern Protestant Ireland Worked on a farm in County Derry. Influenced him to write about rural life Nobel Prize 1995 Poet, playwright, and translator Historical poems about Ireland's ancestors "I've always associated the moment of writing with a moment of lift, of joy, of unexpected reward." -Seamus Heaney

3. 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

4. Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds Bends low, comes up twenty years away Stooping in rhythm through potato drills Where he was digging

5. 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.

6. My grandfather cut more turf in a day Than any other man on Toner's bog. Once I carried him milk in 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.

7. 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 fingers and my thumb The squat pen rests. I'll dig with it.

8. Paraphrase Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. There is a pen in my hand. It feels like a gun.

9. There is a sound outside my window of a shovel digging. It is my father. I look out my window. Under my window, a clean rasping sound When the spade sinks into gravelly ground: My father, digging. I look down

10. Until his hardworking butt in the garden bends down, he stands up, and it is like 20 years ago. He bends down rhythmically in the potato fields where he was digging. Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds Bends low, comes up twenty years away Stooping in rhythm through potato drills Where he was digging.

11. His worn out boot was on the shovel, and he had a firm, steady grasp on it. The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft Against the inside knee was levered firmly.

12. He dug up potato roots with the shiny shovel. We picked these. They feel cool and hard in our hands. He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep To scatter new potatoes that we picked, Loving their cool hardness in our hands.

13. Wow, my dad was really good at this, just like my grandpa. By God, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man.

14. My grandpa dug more turf than anyone where he worked. Once, I brought him some milk with paper in the top. He stood up. 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

15. 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. He drank it quickly, then got right back to his technical work. He dug deep to get to the rich turf. Digging.

16. 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. The smell of potatoes, sound of peat, and sharp edges all come alive through the ties to my past in my head. But I don't have the same tools to do work like my dad and grandpa.

17. Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests. I'll dig with it. The pen is in my hand again. I'll use that to do my work.

18. Connotation Melody: • Inconsistent Rhyming- first few lines • Breaking patterns was a Modernism trait; It is untraditional. • Ex. "sound" and "ground" • Internal Rhyming- like a song; vowels • Ex. "thumb" and "gun"

19. Connotation Rhythm: • Starts in dactylic tetrameter to get a songlike flow • Ex. "Under my window a clean rasping sound" • Changes to free verse- no meter • Shows Modernism again because it was breaking a comfortable norm.

20. Connotation Imagery: • Simile "The squat pen rests, snug as a gun" • Strange comparison • Trying to increase his work's importance • Violent tool • Brings guns into question- Modernism • Onomatopoeia- Ex. "squelch" • Very specific words- "clean rasping sound"

21. Attitude Reflective • Questioning the past • Questioning his future • Differences between them

22. Shift • Subject change: father to grandfather • Shows deep roots • Tense change: present to past • Shows that it is a memory • Ex. "the spade sinks" to "where he was digging"

23. Title After analyzing the poem, what do you think the title means? Win a potato!

24. Title • Digging has multiple meanings • Literal digging • Digging into the past • Digging for info when writing • Shows the importance of work to him • Instead of naming it "Family"

25. Themes Family is the most important tie we have. • Relates everything he does to his family • Considers them hard, skilled workers • Ex. "By God, the old man could handle a spade."

26. Themes Discovering yourself is necessary to succeed. • Different trade from his family • Ex. "But I've no spade to follow men like them." • Questions his choice at the beginning; realizes he can "dig" too at the end. • Modernism- questioning values

27. Purpose • Helps everyone to see that being different is okay • Lyric- Talks about his emotions over changing the family pattern

29. Bibliography Duffy, Charles F. "Heaney's DIGGING." Explicator 46.4 (1988): 44. EBCO MegaFILE. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. A. This source discusses a possible allusion to the Bible in the first stanza of the poem. It also analyzes the different connotations of the simile included in that stanza. Lastly, it tells of the different types of digging to which the title may be referring. B. This source has authority because it was published by the literary journal "The Explicator". Charles F. Duffy was a well-respected writer for this journal. The source is also accurate because it uses many other sources to back up its conclusions. Duffy quotes the poet in his analysis of certain phrases. He also includes relevant background information about Ireland. C. This source was used to help analyze the title of the poem. The analysis of the simile in the first stanza was also used for analyzing the poem's overall connotation. It was unique because it focused on a few very specific parts of the poem rather than the poem as a whole. "Digging." EXPLORING Poetry. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Discovering Collection. Gale. Independent School District 191. 28 Apr. 2013 A. This source digs into the meaning of the title and further analyzes the poet's admiration of not only his family, but the hard work they do. Also, this source describes the author's affection of rustic Irish past/tradition. Finally, this source helps analyze the poem by showing us how the author talks about nature and his love for it and the way that ties with the work of his family. B. This source has authority because it is from a well-known poetry analyzer called "EXPLORING Poetry." This organization has been around for 5 years and has analyzed many poems. This also shows accuracy because he quotes the poem several times in his analysis, showing his depth and knowledge of the poem. This source is credible because it is from the Gale Learning Center, which many schools use to source documents. C. This source was unique because it compared this poem to another one of Heaney's poems, "Death Of a Naturalist" and compared the two through analysis of the title and he talks about the bond they share about how they both deal with Irish tradition and Heaney's past.