Comparing Digging and Follower by Seamus Heaney Essay -- Seamus Heaney

Examine two poems, Digging and Follower by Seamus Heaney and then compare the poems, explaining both their differences and similarities.The commencement ceremony poem I am qualifying to examine is digging by Seamus Heaney. Iwill first comment on the title of the poem. Digging has both ametaphorical and literal subject matter to it. The literal consequence is thathis father and his grandfather are farmers. The poem talks about themen Digging and working, so this explains the literal stringenting of thepoem. The metaphorical regard asing is that Seamus Heaney is Digging intohis past and back round, which is farming. So, the title is rathereffective. Now I will examine the rest of the poem.Firstly, I will confront at, and comment on, the first stanza. In thisverse, Seamus Heaney is not doing anything. It seems as if he iswaiting for inspiration. In the second line, there is a strangesimile The squat pen rests snug as a gun. This is strange becausesnug is a comfortable word which suggests he is comfortable with hiswriting, only if gun is a powerful and dangerous word. This could meanthat his pen could be powerful (and it is it ends up being hiscareer). The word squat makes it seem as if he is eager to write andas if the pen is poised ready to spring. The word rests thenreinforces the belief that he is comfortable with his writing.Secondly, I will study the second stanza. Onomatopoeia is used at theend of the first line. A clean rasping sound is said. This is as well asaural imagery. The word digging is repeated at the end of thisstanza with the literal meaning.I will now look at the third stanza. Seamus Heaney is now thinkingback 20 years. I can tell this as it says comes up twenty yearsaway. He is thinki... ...he poem. The poem is about how great his father is, andthen ends bluntly by saying Heaney is a nuisance. I comprise itunexpected. I think that it may mean that his back round wont go awayand he feeds his writing by his past. It could also mean th at hisfather is now old and feeble. Whichever this may be, it is a veryironic ending. The pessimistic ending is much unlike that ofDigging, which ended optimistically.I found this poem hard to understand at first, but then I lookedbetween the lines, and, like Digging, I found it really interestingand deep/meaningful. I rather digging though, I found it a moreinteresting and optimistic poem. Though, I did really like the laststanza of Follower I found it very effective. But I also did withDigging. Overall, I enjoyed both poems thoroughly and would like tolook at more of Seamus Heaneys work.