Seamus Heany's Poems 'Digging' and 'Follower' explore Heaney's life on his farm in Ireland with his father. In both poems, heany talks of how he had a choice to take one of two paths, one of which was to follow in his ancestor's footsteps and become a farmer, the other was to become a writer.
In 'Follower' heany aspires to be like his father, where as in 'Digging' he still admires his ancestors, but he wishes to take a different route in life. In this essay I intend to look at how the father/son relation ship is shown in both poems through the titles, themes, structure/style and language.The title 'Follower' literal and metaphorical, as it is about Heaney following his father. It tells us of how Heaney trudged after his father, as he desired to be like him and how he carefully watched his every move. It is also metaphorical as its could mean more than Heaney following his father.
His father could be a memory in his head, which follows him around constantly reminding him of his expert ploughing and how he must live up to his fathers reputation.The title of 'Digging' is also very significant as it talks about how his father is digging with the plough, but Heaney is digging with his pen. This is suggesting he has broken away from his father and turned to writing. It could also be metaphorical as he talks of 'digging with his pen'. Seamus Heaney uses different themes to explore the father/son relationship. One particular theme that crops up in each poem is farming, which was, Irelands culture and rural way of life in the past.
In 'Digging' Heaney talks about farming as though it is lesser than him and not worth the efforts.He is looking from a higher place down onto the field in which his father works. 'My father, digging. I look down.
' This suggests that Heaney is inside looking on as his father ploughs the fields. The proposal of height could also mean that Heaney sees himself as a more powerful individual than his father. It seems to me that by looking through a window onto his father, that the window acts as an obstruction between them, meaning that gradually Heaney has become less attached to his father and his admirations have faded away.Not only could it be a barrier between the two men, but it could also be a window to the past/future giving Heaney a clear view of what his life was, and could have been if he had chosen the path of farming. 'Follower' describes Heaney's admiration for his father and his wish to be exactly like him. In the beginning of the poem, the way in which Heaney describes his father suggest they had a close bond, 'I wanted to grow up and plough' this changes towards the end as Heaney begins to see his father as a burden upon him and his admirations towards farming start to change.
There is a theme shift around about this time as it then moves onto how Heaney aspires to break free form his cultures reins and start a different tradition, but is held back by his fathers constant reminder of Irelands true culture and past. In 'Digging' Heany has uses generations as another theme, in this he explores his ancestors contributions towards the farming world and admires there progressions. He talks of how his grandfather ploughed by hand and could 'cut more turf in a day // Than any other man' This quote tells us that Heaney still had immense pride in his family, but he did not want to carry on the family traditions of farming.This also ties in with the theme of occupations, as Heaney aspired to become a writer rather than farm. Heaney describes his pen as 'as snug as a gun'; this suggests that his pen is meant to rest in his hand, not a spade.
Also the reference to the gun could indicate that he has feels more powerful writing than he does farming, he has enough power to seek a new life away from rural country life. Heaney has structured his poems in different sections to show different stages of his life, and different stages in his relation ship with his father.In 'Follower' Heaney talks of how his relationship with his father progresses from being a small child, to being a young adult and able to work for himself. As a child, Heaney idolised his father and longed to carry on the family tradition of farming, but as the poem progresses, Heaney begins to see his father as a nuisance as he begins to fall and stumble.
'Behind me, and will not go away. ' The structure of the poem is quite tight. The poem is written in the first person as the narrator is telling us of a particaular event in his own life.The verses of the poem tend to be of a similar legth to simbolise the regularity of his father ploughing and the constand scrape of the shovel on the ground.
This poem also has a clear rhyming pattern, I think that's this symoblises the mechanization of ploughing the fields, as his father is constantly going back and fourth through the sodden fields always doing the same job over and over again. This structue differs from that of 'Digging' as this poems structure is quite loose.Again, similar to 'Follower', the poem is written in the first person, as Heaney is telling us of events that have happened to him personally. However the verse length of 'Digging' is different to that of 'Follower' as they are not all of the same length which is reflecting the recallation of different things and the different ways in which the memory works.
The beginning of the poems is similar to the end, as its emphasises the poets longing to follow a different career. The last line of the first stanza reads 'the squat pen rests; as snug as a gun. This is smilar to the last line of the last stanza as it talks of how his pen rests, but he will dig with it instead of using a spade. 'the squat pen rests // Ill dig with it. The language in 'Follower' specifically relates back to farming by using farming related vocabulary such as 'furrow' and 'plough', as I believe that Heaney is showing his respect and admiration for his father's expertise of the farming industry. This is the same as 'Digging' because Heaney uses farming related vocabulary again to show his love of his father's skills.
Follower' also uses some enjambment, as he breaks up one line and puts different parts of it into a new verse. This is shown in stanza 4-5. These two lines of the poem mimic the movement of the reins and the plough, as it is turning round at the end of the field to continue the farming process. In stanza 1, Heaney talks of how his father shoulders were 'like a full sail strung'; this is a simile as it is using a sail to give you the impression of how his father's shoulders are globed. It also is suggesting that his father is a voyager as full strung sails tend to be used when travelling the seas.In stanza 5, the poet uses Caesuras to put an emphasis on Heaney's respect and idolisation for his father by using shorter sentences and stopping the flow of the line to give the words a stronger mood and impact.
In 'Digging' Heaney uses lots of onomatopoeic words and sensory language. It gives the reader a clear vivid picture of how exactly Heaneys father was ploughing through the turf, this is done through sound and smell words such as 'Cold smell of mould' and 'squelch'. Heaney also uses some apostrophic references through addressing an outsider, such as god or possibly the reader.He talks about his father's skills with a spade as if it is one of the best skills a man could have. 'By god the old man could handle a spade'.
Seamus Heaney considered his father to be the centre of his world in 'Follower' as he talks of him in pride and admiration in his father's expert skills and he aspires to become an expert farmer just like his father. This differs form 'Digging' as in this poem, Heaney looks down upon his father in the fields working as Heaney himself is writing with his pen and breaking away from his family traditions.The poem 'Follower' is mainly optimistic, but towards the end Heaney becomes frustrated with his father, as he 'will not go away' hence why I believe this poem has a negative side. As much as Heaney loves and idolises his father, he feels burdened by him as if he is dragging him down as he stumbles.
'Digging' is mainly a very negative poem, again Heaney has love and admiration for his father, but he has broken away from his family's tradition to become a writer, which suggest the father/son bond has been broken and there is a barrier between the two people.I believe that in 'Follower' Heaney is looking to begin a life of farming but is burdened by his father, as Heaney wants to move on into the future his father is dragging him back to the past meaning he cannot break free from his father reins. This differs from 'Digging' as in this poem, Heany has moved on with his life an he has begun to take his own pat, but his fathers reminder still sticks in his head, picking away at him.
