Heaney, Seamus. "Digging".

Summary

- the speaker sits indoors with a pen in his hand, listens to the sounds of a spade outdoors, and develops a series of thoughts the digging evokes in his mind

-his father digs among the flowerbeds where he once used to dig for potatoes and where once his own father used to dig

- the speaker praises how both his father and his grandfather could handle the spade

- conclusion: the speaker announces that he will not follow his ancestors in literal digging x but: in figurative digging in history with his pen

Analysis

- free verse, irregular rhyme and stanza varying according to the speaker's thoughts

- interweaves the literal and the figurative concept of digging, describes one in terms of the other

- draws both a dividing line and a parallel between the occupation of his predecessors and his own