Understanding "Digging" by Seamus Heaney

Summary

In this video by SixMinuteScholar, Rebecca Balcarcel analyzes the poem "Digging" by Seamus Heaney. The poem is beautifully expressive of Heaney's reflection on his family’s farming legacy contrasted with his own vocation as a writer. Heaney intricately links the physical labor of his father and grandfather digging peat and potatoes with his literary craft. Balcarcel dives into the symbolism of the "squat pen" as a tool of his trade, comparable to a spade. The overview discusses the work and discipline involved in both professions and the intrinsic value this brings, emotionally and socially.

Highlights

• Seamus Heaney’s poem 'Digging' contrasts the author’s profession with his family's traditional farming work. 🌾
• The poem utilizes vivid imagery and sound to draw parallels between the physical and intellectual labor. 🎨
• Balcarcel points out Heaney's use of literary devices to bring the act of digging—and writing—to life. 🖋️
• Heaney honors the skill and dedication of his father and grandfather, and his desire to manifest similar values through writing. 👏
• Rebecca’s analysis delves into how Heaney perceives the power and potential harbored in his writing, akin to wielding a spade. 💪

Key Takeaways

• The poem 'Digging' reflects Seamus Heaney's admiration for his father's and grandfather's labor while finding parallel value in his own craft as a writer. 🌱
• Rebecca Balcarcel highlights the sensory language Heaney uses to evoke the tactile and auditory experiences of digging. 🎶
• Heaney masterfully bridges the physical act of digging with the metaphorical act of writing, portraying both as forms of laborious yet fulfilling work. ✍️
• Balcarcel encourages listeners to appreciate the sound and cultural significance embedded in Heaney's writing. 🎧
• Heaney's conclusion about digging with his pen symbolizes his commitment to his craft, equating it with the manual labor of his ancestors. 📚

Overview

"Digging" by Seamus Heaney is a contemplative exploration of familial legacy versus personal passion. The poem opens with a striking image of a pen resting in Heaney’s hand, symbolizing the power and potential of writing. As Rebecca Balcarcel illustrates, Heaney uses strong sensory details to transport readers into his world.

Balcarcel describes the poem’s rich imagery that bridges the manual labor of farming with the creative labor of writing. Through evocative sounds and descriptions, Heaney pays tribute to his father and grandfather's expertise as farmers, contrasting it thoughtfully with his realm of expertise—writing. The emotional resonance in Heaney's words establishes a profound respect for both types of work.

Towards the poem’s conclusion, Heaney resolves to continue his vocational ‘digging’ with his pen, suggesting a legacy that is as meaningful and powerful in its own right. Balcarcel's engaging review of the poem highlights Heaney’s commitment to authenticity and precision, underscoring the importance and value found in words as tools, akin to the spade.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 02:30: Introduction and Poem Reading The chapter introduces the reader to a session led by Rebecca Balcarcel, where she plans to explore the poem 'Digging' by Seamus Heaney. She encourages looking for a recording of Heaney reading his poem to appreciate his accent and delivery style.
• 02:30 - 04:00: Analysis of the Poem The chapter 'Analysis of the Poem' features a narrative centered around the act of digging, metaphorically and literally, as portrayed through the perspective of the narrator. Initially, the narrator describes their experience of holding a pen, drawing a powerful comparison to a gun, suggesting the weight and potential impact of writing. The scene shifts to a tangible depiction of digging, as the narrator listens to the familiar, earthy sound of a spade cutting into the ground – a sound associated with their father. It vividly presents the father's laborious task in the flowerbeds, capturing both the physicality and the emotional distance that exists over time, as the narrator nostalgically observes the father stooping down, an action that stretches back 20 years. The passage reflects themes of familial legacy, memory, and the connection between the past and present through the simple yet profound activity of digging.
• 04:00 - 07:00: Focus on Sounds and Language The chapter "Focus on Sounds and Language" delves into the rhythmic nature of tasks through vivid imagery. It begins by describing a man performing repetitive physical labor, characterized by digging potatoes with a spade. The narrative describes the man's methodical and skilled technique, inherited from his father, showcasing a generational transfer of skill and mastery of the spade. The cool hardness of the freshly dug potatoes adds to the sensory detail, emphasizing the tactile connection to the land and the fruits of labor. This chapter reflects on the legacy of work and language passed through generations, highlighting sound and rhythm as fundamental elements intertwined with labor and heritage.
• 07:00 - 09:00: Conclusion and Invitation This chapter reflects on the work of a diligent man on Toner's bog, noted for his ability to cover more turf than anyone else in a day. The narrator recounts a time they brought the man milk, which he drank casually before resuming his efficient, methodical work of cutting and throwing sods. The atmosphere is rich with the earthy smell of good turf and potato mold, portraying a sense of dedication and the rhythm of traditional labor. The chapter serves as a conclusion, encapsulating the essence of hard work and an invitation to appreciate the simplicity and depth of rural life.

Understanding "Digging" by Seamus Heaney Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] hi i'm rebecca balcarcel let's take a look at the poem digging by seamus haney and look online for a recording of him reading it because he has a great accent not american accent and you'll love it
• 00:30 - 01:00 but i'll just read it in my own voice 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 20 years away stooping in
• 01:00 - 01:30 rhythm through potato drills where he was digging the course 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
• 01:30 - 02:00 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 too right away knicking and slicing neatly heaving sods over his shoulder going down and down for the good turf digging the cold smell of potato mold the
• 02:00 - 02:30 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 okay i read straight through because i just got caught up in the drama but let's go back and and take a closer look so he starts and ends the poem
• 02:30 - 03:00 with the same idea between my finger and my thumb the squat pen rests actually the same words and of course he's talking about his own career as a writer or his uh yeah his career as a writer snug as a gun comes up in the first stanza and then at the end he says i'll dig with it so at the beginning snug as a gun i really like the sound a snug a gun and of course a gun
• 03:00 - 03:30 is very powerful it has enormous potential uh enormous energy it's about to do something exciting uh dangerous harmful possibly and the writer has that kind of power so that's an interesting phrase right there but he compares his work as a writer to what we might call real work or work work labor work
• 03:30 - 04:00 and the work he refers to is his father and his father's father digging digging for pete so he describes the sound clean rasping sound when the spade sinks into gravely ground at first it's his father digging and he he looks down and this digging in the like garden the yard reminds him it says till his straining rump among the flower
• 04:00 - 04:30 beds so it's just a normal flower bed but it it says it comes up 20 years away 20 years in the past stooping in rhythm through potato drills where he was digging so in the past he dug for potatoes so they had a vegetable garden or even maybe a little farm and the potatoes were dug and then he's in the past and he describes the coarse boot nestled on the lug the shaft so these are parts
• 04:30 - 05:00 of the spade the tools of the trade for someone who grows food he rooted out tall tops and there's so many lovely sounds buried the bright to bees they're edge deep and then he talks about picking up the potatoes so he and his siblings or cousins or something and then he reflects by god the old man could handle a spade and this whole
• 05:00 - 05:30 thing is told with quite a lot of respect looking back at how hard his father worked and how expert he was what skill it took and the same thing about the grandfather my grandfather could uh cut more turf in a day than any other man on toner's bog and this was a real thing they would cut turf squares out of the bog and you could sell that so cutting turf was an important
• 05:30 - 06:00 activity a profitable activity and he was good at it and he says i carried the milk in a bottle so the writer as a child would carry milk to his grandfather and then right away the grandfather would get back to work lots of lovely details about the mill corked with paper but then the man would start digging and he would go down down digging deep for the good turf and this is compared to the writer's job
• 06:00 - 06:30 digging and of course the title digging in some way the pen can also dig and that's how it ends uh i'll dig with it so writing digs into issues into psychology into the social issues of our day cultural problems political issues psychological
• 06:30 - 07:00 character studies the writer can do a lot of stuff with with their pen with their typewriter and it's compared here to the hard work of actual digging with an actual spade digging potatoes is it just as hard well i'm a writer and i can say i think it's very hard it's hard in a different way it's mentally hard it's emotionally hard some writers have said it's you know oh
• 07:00 - 07:30 writing's easy you just sit down and open a vein okay so that that implies that it's really quite hard and he he says i'm the the pen sits exactly here between my finger and thumb and i'll dig with it okay um i want to mention one more sound thing the squelch and slap of soggy pete lots of s's and almost onomatopoeia with
• 07:30 - 08:00 the word like squelch and a word like slap and then curt cuts of an edge that's the blade kurt means short cuts and also controlled and precise cuts more respectful language actually for this for this work for this digging and he actually says i don't have a spade to follow men like them so i that is not my area of expertise i'm just a writer but i'll do what i can
• 08:00 - 08:30 i'll dig with it i will bring the same honesty to my work as they do and hopefully my work as a writer will have value the way that their work had value the potatoes and the sod the pete had value it feeds you in a different way or it fuels you in a different way writing does poems but maybe just as important or that seems to
• 08:30 - 09:00 be the assertion here okay so that's digging and there's more to say about it but i'll stop there and i hope you'll join me for another poem on six minute scholar please like the video if you did like it and join me for another one [Music]
• 09:00 - 09:30 you