Essay Database

Seamus Heaney "digging" and "follower".A commentary. In the poem entitled "Digging", Seamus Heaney sensuously chronicles the cultivated art of Irish potato digging. His father mastered the art; he was the Rembrandt of digging. The reader can hear the sound of the spade as it pierces the earth with "a clean rasping sound." (Heaney 161) The sound of the spade is felt as well as heard. Heaney firmly places the reader's foot on the spade when …

…is also a surprise, because Heaney says in "Follower" that he wants to be like his father, but here he has changed his mind.. This poem, like the first one , has a main theme, and they are very similar to the others. It is all about the hard work involved in running a farm, the relationship between the father and son, and the expectation that profession and skills will be carried on throughout the family.