Table of Contents
Who is speaking in the poem digging?
The speaker in this poem is a writer, quite possibly a poet. He’s the son of a potato farmer, and as we quickly find out, he’s the grandson of a harvester as well. He comes from a long line of diggers.
Who is the speaker in the poem digging by Seamus Heaney What is the instrument with which the speaker will dig the fields?
The pen is the spade, the speaker declaring that he will use the pen to dig with, leaving behind the tool of his forefathers, the farmer’s spade. There are several examples of alliteration, which enhances the sound and brings variety and interest for the reader: spade sinks/ gravelly ground…
Who are the characters who appear in the poem digging?
In Digging we have three characters: the author (the son), his father, and grandfather. The author is clearly making a comparison of his way of life and his fathers way of life.
What is the message of digging by Seamus Heaney?
The main themes of the poem “Digging” are the nobility of all work, and continuity with the past. The central metaphor in the poem is the comparison between the speaker’s chosen work of writing and his ancestor’s livelihood as potato farmers.
Who are the characters in the poem Digging?
“Digging” explores the relationship between three generations: the speaker, his father, and the speaker’s grandfather. The speaker lives a very different life to his forebears—he’s a writer, whereas his father and grandfather were farmers.
What happens in the opening of the poem Digging?
In the opening of “Digging,” the speaker is poised to start writing, his pen hovering above the page. But when he hears the sound of his father digging in the flowerbeds beneath the speaker’s window, it brings back memories of his father digging potatoes many years before.
What is the meaning of the poem Digging by Seamus Heaney?
The speaker marvels at how well his father digs, which conjures an even older memory of his grandfather, his father’s father, completing the arduous task of digging through peat moss. Toward the end of the poem, the speaker writes as though he can smell the potatoes from the garden and the peat moss his grandfather has dug.
What is the fourth stanza of the poem Digging?
Loving their cool hardness in our hands. The fourth stanza is rich in description, as the speaker paints the image of his father digging through the potato beds. By God, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man. The fifth stanza is comprised of just two simple lines as the speaker marvels at his father.