Seamus Heaney, "Digging"
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 eage
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.
Focus on a particular literary device (diction/word choice + tone) and consider how it works in this poem. What would the poem lose if this element were eliminated or written differently?
In this poem, Seamus Heaney effectively uses diction/word choice and tone to convey the speaker's admiration and respect for his father and grandfather's work, as well as his own struggle to find his own identity and purpose as a poet.
The poet's choice of specific words, such as "squat pen," "clean rasping sound," "gravelly ground," "straining rump," "cool hardness," "old man," "turf," "squelch," and "soggy peat," creates vivid and sensory images. These words evoke the physicality and labor of digging, emphasizing the connection between manual work and poetic creation. The choice of words also adds a sense of authenticity and realism to the poem, allowing the reader to feel the texture and smell of the earth and the potato mould.
Additionally, the tone of the poem shifts throughout, reflecting the speaker's different emotions and perspectives. At the beginning, the tone is appreciative and reverent as he describes his father's skill and compares it to his grandfather's. The tone shifts to nostalgic and sentimental as he reminisces about carrying milk to his grandfather and watches him work. Towards the end, the tone becomes more determined and resolute as the speaker asserts his own identity and purpose as a poet.
If the diction/word choice and tone were eliminated or written differently, the poem would lose its sensory imagery and emotional impact. The use of specific words creates a connection between physical labor and poetic creation, demonstrating the speaker's understanding of his familial legacy and the value of hard work. The shifts in tone also contribute to the overall meaning of the poem, highlighting the speaker's complex feelings towards his heritage and his own role as a poet. Without these elements, the poem would lose its depth, evocative power, and nuanced exploration of identity and purpose.