Seamus Heaney "DIGGING"

DIGGING - 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 flower beds

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 own man.

My father cut more turf in one 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 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 that. 

Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen rests

I'll dig with it.

Quite often, a young man will look up to his father as a 'father figure', someone to idolize and emulate. I've frequently noticed in Seamus Heaney's poetry his tendency to mention a father (both in "Follower" and "Mid-Term Break"). In his poem, "Digging" Heaney, through the diction and metaphors presented, compares himself and his values to those of his forebears. Throughout the poem, Heaney contemplates his 'roots' in remembering his father and grandfather and the things they valued. Heaney himself wonders if his own occupation is as valuable as theirs. 

In the beginning of the poem Heaney presents himself writing, he suggests that his pen is his tool; he then becomes conscious of his father working below in the garden. When describing the work of his father Heaney uses diction which suggests admiration towards his father's labors and, although he doesn't outright state it, implies his questioning as to whether or not his own work is as genuine. 

Heaney obviously values the quality of his father's work. Words like "clean rasping sound" suggests his admiration. "Straining" and the repetition of "digging" create a sense of purposefulness and "stooping in rhythm" the efficiency with which his father works. "The coarse boot nestled...firmly". These words suggest the determination and amount of effort of his father's contribution to work. Also, "He rooted out tall tops" implies the thoroughness with which his father completes his actions. Heaney begins to reminisce about the "potatoes that [they] picked, Loving their cool hardness in [their] hands"; He senses the same admiration and witnesses the same determination that he did helping his father pick potatoes as a child. 

"By God, the old man could handle a spade, Just like his old man". His oath "By God" suggests the tradition with which the family has passed down the spade work and the hardworking customs. The phrase, "Just like his old man" shows the way this manner of work has been passed down proudly through the generations. Heaney then recalls his fathers heroic reputation as man who could "cut more turf in a day than any other man on Toner's bog". Heaney then goes on to evoke the expertise of his forebear's potato-planting: "Nicking and slicing...heaving...Digging". Also, he evokes the productiveness, "Once I carried him milk in a bottle..." Heaney observes the quickness of the break as "He straightened up to drink it, then fell to right away..."

"Living roots awaken in my head". This is a metaphor that plays on the pun of "roots". Here roots can represent both the roots of the potatoes as well as his family roots of his father and grandfather and their relish in working in the soil. Heaney is cognizant of the influence of family traditions of honest and hard work and wishes to live up to the high standards which they have set for future generations, including Heaney himself. "But I've no spade to follow men like them". Heaney feels that his line of work is incompetent in comparison to that of his father and grandfather, he worries that, as a writer, Heaney is no longer following the traditional line of work in the family. He wonders whether poetry requires as much hard work and effort, whether or not it is as valued or 'manly' as potato-planting.

The final stanza of the poem demonstrates Heaney's assertiveness that his writing is, in fact, as valid. "Between my finger and my thumb, the squat pen rests, I'll dig with it". Another metaphor is thus presented in Heaney's usage of the word "dig". Heaney is now comparing his writing to that of the potato-planting in that they both require honest hard toil and "digging". 

Overall Heaney's poem in itself is evidence of the validity of hardwork and expertise which goes into his writing. The amount of dedication and his acknowledgment of doing something that one loves, it is both positive and inspiring, like the work of his forefathers. 

Atwood: Tricks With Mirrors

Many times in history, women have felt the need to fulfill a specific role assigned to them by society and men, perhaps unintentionally but nevertheless through their treatment of women in general. In her poem, "Tricks With Mirrors", Margaret Atwood uses conceit in order to promote parallels between various objects and a woman as well as her role in the shadow of a man. The poem consists of five sections and begins with a hint of vulnerability and eventually climaxes to a determination which the speaker hopes to convey though the continued metaphors.

Initially the woman objectifies herself as "a used warehouse". The woman has been with men before and from her experience, has obtained the feeling of being "used". "I enter with you and become a mirror". Here the woman establishes herself as a mirror; she tells the reader that mirrors are perfect lovers and mentions sexual references such as "throw me on the bed" and "fall into me". However the woman states that there is more to a mirror than simply the reflection of the man which the man constantly tends to notice, ignoring the "dead blue oblong eye" which would demonstrate the obvious discontent and unhappiness of a woman. "thank about the frame...it is important". The speaker feels that the man only notices himself however ignores the details of a woman and, in doing so, that which makes the woman separate and defines her. Rather than noticing these components, a man only sees himself, his own reflection. The speaker mentions nails and asks that the man pay attention to the mark in the wood which would here represent the women's past experiences, which, "they are important too".

"Don't assume it is passive or easy...surface of the ice". Here the woman attempts to explain that the restraint which a woman endures is not simple but rather difficult in that the woman is essentially being silenced and, in a sense, forced to contain her opinions and emotions, "breath withheld, no anger or joy disturbing the surface of the ice". Rather than protecting herself and preserving her individuality, a woman suspends a man in herself and works to preserve the man's interest, assuring the man's safety inside of their relationship; the man has no worries. "It is not a trick...mirrors are crafty".  A direct association is made between mirrors and women suggesting that women are crafty in their actions and way when regarding men and the manners in which they present themselves to men. 

"I wanted to stop this". In the fourth section the speaker begins to assertively challenge the depression she experiences and voices a woman's wishes to alter their lifestyles and escape from their constant position behind the shadow of a man, "this life flattened against the wall. mute and devoid of colour". The woman wishes to release herself from the bonds of a man and the imposed subordination a woman encounters. "This life of vision only...impasse". The speaker feels as if she leads a silent lifestyle, thoughts of change but no actions. Living in a man's shadow, a woman leads a remote existence where she is unable to express her thoughts but rather remains mute and forever trapped in the imprisonment behind the shadow of the man, "a lucid impasse".

In the fourth stanza of the fourth section the woman confesses that it is not a mirror that she speaks of, but rather a door; a door that she is trapped behind. The narrator is not beginning a new metaphor but rather furthering the original metaphor in that the woman is associating her position with a mirror but rather a door which she finds herself trapped behind without a way out. The speaker expresses her desire to have the man release her from her entrapment "say the releasing word, whatever that may be, open the wall". However the man doesn't understand the woman at all and instead, continues to treat her as if she were his mirror". Eventually the speaker transitions metaphors at the end in order probe the reader to contemplate pools. Perhaps the pool is an allusion to Narcissus in Greek mythology: a young man who fell in love with his image in a pool of water and eventually wasted away and fell into the pool and drowned. This would be in reference to the beginning of the poem wherein the speaker states, "fall into me". The speaker provides a final attempt to allow the man to see his vanity and better understand the woman who remains simply a shadow, a reflection of a man's desires. 

Overall, "Tricks With Mirrors" represents a woman's voice in an attempt to appeal for change with hopes that the man will understand her innermost thoughts and resolve to make the necessary changes in order to better understand women in general. Throughout the poem, through the extended metaphor, Atwood successfully compares various objects such as mirrors, doors and pools to that of the role of a woman in the shadow of a man. 

"Follower"

In his poem, "Follower", Seamus Heaney uses the diction of his poem as well as the imagery presented in order to differentiate between the speaker's views of his father as a child to those as an adult. Throughout the poem, the speaker describes life with his father as a young child and the ways in which he idolizes his father only to culminate with the disappointment of reversed roles in the end. 

Initially, the speaker describes his father with words suggesting a powerful man, "His shoulders globed", "An expert". It is apparent that the speaker looks up to his father and hopes to someday follow in his footsteps. "I wanted to grow up and plough, to close one eye, stiffen my arm". The speaker uses words such as "nuisance, tripping, falling, stumbled" etc. in order to compare himself with an annoyance which his father cannot rid himself of.

Later, however, the speaker realizes in an air of disappointment, that it is his father which is the nuisance. "But today it is my father who keeps stumbling behind me, and will not go away". The speaker admits that now that his father is older and no longer the strong man described previously in the poem, he is nothing but a nuisance, a 'follower'. "Keeps stumbling behind me", here the author uses images of an old man stumbling behind him in order to demonstrate the reversed role of his father. Once a strong man, the speakers father is now simply a nuisance that he cannot rid himself of. 

Overall, Seamus Heaney is able to accurately portray the growth of his father and the recognition of the speaker that he no longer is the man he previously admired, but rather an old man who is useless.

Mid-Term Break

A speaker in Seamus Heaney's "Mid-Term Break" discusses the death of his younger brother and his funereal visit. Throughout the poem, through the content provided, Heaney suggests a general air of indifference regarding the death of the speakers 4-year old brother.

The poem begins with the speaker describing his location. He has been waiting all morning in the college's sick bay, waiting to be collected by his neighbors. The fact that he has been counting the bells shows a lack of concern for the situation and a sense of boredom. Additionally, the speaker's neighbors are his transportation, rather than his family, which suggests separateness from his family. 

Continuously throughout the poem the speaker mentions the emotions of those around him however fails to state his feelings regarding the situation. "I met my father crying--He had always taken funerals in his stride--And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow. The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram...My mother..." etc. These continual references to the people around him shows the speakers focus more on the attendance of the funeral rather than the reason for their visit in the first place. 

"I was embarrassed...'sorry for my trouble'". Both the fact that the speaker is embarrassed possibly suggests that he is guilty of not feeling the emotions the people addressing him assume that he is feeling. When the author puts 'sorry for my trouble' in quotes it seems as if the speaker feels it in ironic or contradictory in that he really is experiencing no trouble at all. The speaker is embarrassed that, while his mother is holding his hand and expressing genuine emotion "coughed out angry tearless sighs", these men are taking the time to shake his hand.

"Whispers informed strangers..." It is obvious that the speaker is a stranger even in his own household. This is also seen in his descriptions "the room", "the bedside","the corpse", all of which are impersonal references. The speakers description of the room and his reference to the baby as a corpse demonstrate an unfamiliarity with both the baby and his surroundings. 

Finally, the speaker continuously makes note of his usual absence from the house. "Away at school", "I saw him for the first time in six weeks"...each of these imply that the speaker is typically away at school and does not usually see the baby. Also, the title, "Mid-Term Break" indicates that the boy is leaving school as a break, as it is not often he is dismissed.

Overall, the content of "Mid-Term Break" demonstrates the reader a sense of separateness from both the death of the baby and family values. Through his descriptions of others' emotions, and the quotes mentioned, Heaney portrays the character as lost in a house of genuine affection.