Digging : Summary
Digging is a notable literary work by Seamus Heaney. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, to various questions of Digging.
Summary
Seamus Heaney’s first poem, Digging, was published in the Date of Naturalist Poetry Collection. It is an autobiographical poem in which he beautifully describes his career and that of his ancestors’ career. We often hear that the greatest weapon in the world is the pen which is sharper than the sword. The poet compares the pen with the gun in the same vein and says that the power of the pen is in no way less than that of the gun.
The poet then describes a vivid picture of his father and grandfather’s work. While inside the house, he could hear the sound of his farmer father digging the soil through the window and wondered if after 20 years he could still dig the soil and pick potatoes as before. Like his father, his grandfather used to lift weeds from the fields on his shoulders and carry them away.
The poet still remembers that he once took milk for his grandfather in the fields and his grandfather took the milk from him and immediately went back to work. Coming to the present time, the poet does not work like his father and his grandfather in digging the soil with a spade and doing agricultural work, but he respects and pays respect to the profession of his forefathers. Although he does not dig the soil using a spade-like them, he wants to dig with a pen. He describes how he would lead excavations with a pen, just like his father and grandfather.