Digging Seamus Heaney Digging by Seamus Heaney
Description: Digging Seamus Heaney Digging by Seamus Heaney https:youtu.beKNRkPU1LSUg?siR96ZE6k-BXOtLv-0 Digging 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
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slide1. Digging Seamus Heaney<br>
slide2. Digging by Seamus Heaney https://youtu.be/KNRkPU1LSUg?si=R96ZE6k-BXOtLv-0<br>
slide3. Digging 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 flowerbeds 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 old man. My grandfather cut more turf in a 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 to 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 them. Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests. I'll dig with it.<br>
slide4. Background "Digging" is one of the most widely known poems by Seamus Heaney
It begins with the speaker hovering over a blank page with a pen, preparing to write.
The speaker then reflects on the work ethic and skill of his father and grandfather, both of whom worked the land as farmers.
Though the speaker is breaking with that specific familial tradition, the speaker presents writing as its own kind of labour, with speaker vowing to "dig" with the pen.<br>
slide5. Analysis<br>
slide7. The first stanza contains only two lines.
The speaker is focusing on the pen in his hand. Heaney utilises (uses) a simile, telling the reader the pen rests “snug as a gun.”
The reference to a gun is no coincidence: Heaney expects the reader to think that the pen is his instrument, his weapon.
This idea will repeat itself in the last stanza of the poem.<br>
slide9. Analysis questions How does this poem reflect the speaker's feelings about his heritage and how he has split away from it?
What is the main theme of the poem "Digging?"
What is the main message of the poem "Digging"?
Identify two poetic techniques in this poem. Explain how the usage affects the meaning of the poem.<br>
slide2. Digging by Seamus Heaney https://youtu.be/KNRkPU1LSUg?si=R96ZE6k-BXOtLv-0<br>
slide3. Digging 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 flowerbeds 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 old man. My grandfather cut more turf in a 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 to 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 them. Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests. I'll dig with it.<br>
slide4. Background "Digging" is one of the most widely known poems by Seamus Heaney
It begins with the speaker hovering over a blank page with a pen, preparing to write.
The speaker then reflects on the work ethic and skill of his father and grandfather, both of whom worked the land as farmers.
Though the speaker is breaking with that specific familial tradition, the speaker presents writing as its own kind of labour, with speaker vowing to "dig" with the pen.<br>
slide5. Analysis<br>
slide7. The first stanza contains only two lines.
The speaker is focusing on the pen in his hand. Heaney utilises (uses) a simile, telling the reader the pen rests “snug as a gun.”
The reference to a gun is no coincidence: Heaney expects the reader to think that the pen is his instrument, his weapon.
This idea will repeat itself in the last stanza of the poem.<br>
slide9. Analysis questions How does this poem reflect the speaker's feelings about his heritage and how he has split away from it?
What is the main theme of the poem "Digging?"
What is the main message of the poem "Digging"?
Identify two poetic techniques in this poem. Explain how the usage affects the meaning of the poem.<br>