An In-Depth Analysis of ‘Digging’ a Poem by Seamus Heaney

“Digging” is about a person looking out of a window at their Father digging, describing what he/she sees and then the poem goes on to describe what he/she feels. I believe that the narrative voice in the poem is in fact that of Seamus Heaney. There are a number of clues that lead me to this conclusion. The first and most obvious one is in the first line, ‘Between my finger and my …

…of his past and childhood. He gets the reader to really understand the way of life for him, his Father and his Grandfather. The reader can also see how much he looked up to both of them although he chose not to follow in their footsteps. But to follow his own path in life In conclusion I realized that ‘Digging’ is a very complex poem which can be interpreted in a variety of different ways.