Summary:
In "Digging," written in 1966, the contemporary Irish poet, Seamus Heaney provides a perspective of his stage in life and place in the modern world through exploring his rural Irish ancestors, their traditions and heritage.
By examining and connecting to the past years, we are more likely to understand the present day. In "Digging," written in 1966, the contemporary Irish poet, Seamus Heaney provides a perspective of his stage in life and place in the modern world through exploring his rural Irish ancestors, their traditions and heritage. This discussion will concentrate on the various ways in which Heaney offers a particular version of reality to the reader through his representation of the Irish cultural identity.
To commence, Heaney plays on the tittle "Digging," throughout the poem. The action of digging itself is stereotypical of Irish people and their land. This metaphor occurs on different levels. The poem is about how Heaney, by choosing to be a poet, has to dig through his mind for the lines of his poem in the same way his Irish father and grandfather had to dig through 'potato drills' and 'good turf' to survive.
On another level, the poet does exactly this. He digs with the reader present. Heaney explores his early memories and 'living roots' throughout the stanzas to reveal traditional rural Irish life. Through exploring these origins, he decides that while he will be breaking Irish family custom by not using the spade and working the land, he will still be constructive and 'dig' with his 'squat pen.'
Digging is also a metaphor on another scale, which contributes to Heaney's version of reality. Throughout the poem, we can see that as the generation becomes younger, the manual labour in their lives becomes less physical, but is still skilful. Heaney's grandfather dug very heroically and strenuously for turf.
"More turf in a day/Than any other man on Toner's bog."
His father dug for potatoes, which is less strenuous because one does not have to dig as deep, however it still requires an amount of skill, which the poet admires.
"The shaft/Against the inside knee was levered firmly/He rooted out tall tops."
While Heaney is not involved in physical activity at all, he is still very skilful in his writing. His particular version of reality here conveys the transfer from the physical old world to the mental modern world, the modern world where knowledge rather than physical condition is strength and therefore power and success.
Another way in which Heaney contributes to a version of reality through representation of Irish cultural identity concerns the structure of the poem. As he reflects on the differences between himself, his father and grandfather to examine his unconditional choice of work as a writer, Heaney uses irregular stanza and line length to highlight the meandering of his thoughts. The poem begins with a two-line stanza,
"Between my finger and my thumb/The squat pen rests; snug as a gun."
The reverse rhyme, "snug - gun(s)" emphasises the neat fit he feels about writing. As the poem progresses however, his thinking wanders as he describes and admires the hard work and skill of his Irish forebears, the stanzas grow in length. The syllable patterns also vary which helps create the impression of recollecting in his mind. As the poem closes however, the length of the lines and the stanzas are shortened again, which gives the impression of an answer being provided. The final stanza is rather abrupt bringing the reader back to the present and echoes the initial stanza.
"Between my finger and my thumb/The squat pen rests./I'll dig with it."
This final stanza also shows the confidence Heaney feels in his decision to write in the future rather than farm in the family tradition.
Another method that Heaney offers a version of reality is through the use of rich imagery to portray the Irish tradition of labouring the land. The strong, active images of both his father and grandfather incessantly working in the fields capture the essence of the Irish identity. Heaney makes effective use of sounds, words and phrases to vividly present this culture as being tough, hardworking, persistent, skillful and possessing a bond with their land. For example onomatopoeia sounds together with use of alliteration and assonance are used to recreate the noise of the father's spade.
"Clean rasping sound/When the spade sinks into gravely ground."
Another example of this language technique is used hen describing his grandfather's skill.
"Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sod,/Over his shoulder, going down and down/For the good turf. Digging"
Here Heaney also uses rhythm effectively to mirror the rhythmic act of digging. Later in the poem the image and scent of the earth is vividly created again making use of language tools such as onomatopoeia, alliteration and assonance.
"The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap/Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of and edge."
In addition Heaney makes use of colloquial language such that would be heard on the farm while working in the fields. He does this to add to the country scene.
"By God, the old man could handle a spade./Just like his old man"
He also includes agricultural terms such as 'lug,' 'shaft' and 'sods' to contribute to the reality of the farming environment.
To conclude, in "Digging," Heaney utilises different ways to offer a particular version of reality through his representation of Irish cultural identity. These ways have been examined and in summary include, reflection and description of the past to understand the present, poetic structure, extended metaphor, rich imagery using techniques such as, onomatopoeia, alliteration and assonance, agricultural vocabulary as well as rhythm.
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