Tuesday, February 19, 2019
How does Seamus Heaney reveal his culture in ââ¬ËDiggingââ¬â¢ and ââ¬ËFollowerââ¬â¢? Essay
Seamus Heaney was born(p) in Northern Ireland in 1939 to a on the job(p) set family. universe the eldest of nine siblings wasnt easy insofar Heaneys intelligence agency was highlighted when he won a scholarship to a catholic take aim at the tender age of twelve. He had an agricultural back backdrop and was brocaded on the family farm w present he stood proud of his inviolable working ancestors and their expertnesss. afterwards studying Heaneys prototypical pair of metrical compositions jibe and follower I can especi to marvelousyy relate to the strong family values Heaney displays, yet an spacious part of the Irish impost is for a bring to pass on his business or trade checkmate to the eldest son. We twine over how Heaney would timbre pressurised thus he would hurl a lot to live up to judging by that undetermined in his poetry. It is well known that approximately Irishmen are working class and Ireland has a very strong public house culture from this fact st ems earthy stereotypes.Through his poetry Heaney attempts to ch whollyenge the unlikeness that is regularly shown towards Irish farmers. We hit even today many frequently t elder jokes involve the Irish man as the fool its the Irish farmer that is especially misinterpreted, yet Heaney gives us a fair cortical potential into the life of his family and their farming profession he tells readers of the immense dexterity undeniable to farm well and the capability of an Irish farmer. He is therefore intriguing the tradition yet damaging the stereotype.Firstly we fancy how Digging has both a metaphorical and literal kernel to it. The literal meaning is that his engender and grand pay off are farmers, the meter talks slightly his family Digging and working on the farm. Onwards from this the metaphorical meaning is that Seamus Heaney himself is Digging into his past and background, which indeed is farming. Hence the title is rather effective. Digging is about Heaney breaking absent(predicate) from the family tradition and becoming a poet thus it is written in an untraditional way.In Digging Heaney begins his numbers in the present tense he is describing what he is doing and his surroundings at the time of writing before he takes a step back in time, reminiscing and evaluating his legal opinion process as his memories link causing him to remember the past and the skills of his fuck off and grand beat. He is sit polish by his window to write the rime and therefore fulfilling his passion as a poet he describes seeing his elderly mystify twist amongst the flowerbeds, and then goes into the past and reminisces over again about his father and how he would farm so well. He writes of the times when he and his father would work together take white potatoes on the farm. Further on Heaney delves deeper into his family history, he moves on from his father and begins to plow of his grandfather linking the twain together via their epic skills. He writ esBy God, the sexagenarian man could handle a spadeJust like his old man.Heaney uses his chain of thoughts in a very orderly way and describes the potato picking days from his past, he goes into detail about how the potatoes smelt and the cloggy of the spongy peat. He then ends with a stanza much like his head start, yet inwardly this stanza we see how he assures that his tool is not that of a farmer but is a publish and his skill is to write. The final railway system, however, is set in the future tense to emphasise Heaneys determination Ill thrust with it.In contrast Follower is a very different poem. Here, Seamus Heaney writes about his days on the farm from the perspective of organism a progeny boy. He sees his father working on a horse and bend as he recollects upon how he looked up to his father and saw him as a gravid role-model, indeed, as a small fry Heaney himself precious to live on a farmer. Thus the poem is, unlike Digging written in a traditional way. Fo llowing in his fathers footsteps and traipsing around the farm Heaney would puff a nuisance of himself. The poem is ended with a twist as Heaney states that the tables get under ones skin turned as considering the present Seamus Heaney feels his father is stumbling derriere him. This is reflected when he statesIt is my father who keeps stumblingBehind me and will not go away.Like the normal theme in Digging these both lines have both a literal and metaphorical meaning, the literal is that his father is now and old man and is physically stumbling behind him and becoming a nuisance. The transcendental metaphorical meaning is one that highlights the shame he feels, the way in which his father is stumbling behind him reflects how the memories of breaking the family tradition haunt him still and how his father is now a burden finished the regret he feels.Digging starts by riding horse the scene with a two line stanzaBetween my finger and my skyThe squat pen lights snug as a gun The poet is sitting, observance and listening whilst absorbing his surroundings. We see how he is in deep thought as the second line simile reveals that although the pen is sitting well it is potentially enormously powerful. He refers to his pen as squat I recall this is ironic as the burden of breaking a tradition and risking further collapsing the Irish stereotype is not light at all in fact it is a heavy burden to handle.Heaney lets his pen rest as he observes his father out of the window this creates an opposing humour to the following phrase snug as a gun this unfeignedly convinces the reader of its power. I believe that through this he is showing us that he feels he must detach himself as a source from his family in order to ensure his relationships from a realistic perspective he must distance himself from the feelings he has towards his family in order to evaluate fair and make things less personal to him and more of an all round view upon the farming tradition.In th e next stanza we are shown how Digging is an auditory poema clean rasping soundWhen the spade sinks into gravely groundThis is what Heaney is hearing as he looks out of his window. The fact he uses sounds brings him poem to life more and makes everything more realistic. Heaney then writesMy father, digging. I look downI believe that this metaphor could symbolise the fact that Heaney is higher is view than his father Heaney is a middle-class poet whereas his father is a working class farmer. In stanza four of Digging it saysThe coarse boot nestled on the lug, theshaft against the inside knee was levered firmly.He rooted out tall tops, interred the bright edge deepI believe that the send-off two lines convey to us that the spade is just as prosperous for his father as then pen is for him. On the next line the sound outs rooted, out and tops are examples of assonance whereas buried and bright are both alliteration these two literacy devises together have an astonishing appeal addi ng poetic structure to the piece. In the sixth stanza Heaney says at once I carried him milk in a bottleCorked sloppily with paper. He straightened upTo drink it, then fell to right awayHe is talking about his grandfather the way he says he fell to gives us the pick up of a robot like suit programmed into doing his work only. It seems that he has no time for his grandson and although he is working hard and is focused this in addition is a contemplation of their poor relationship and highlights the leave out of intimacy between the two. The fact that Heaney carried his grandfather milk shows that the children were encouraged to refer in family work and start their farming at a recent age.Heaney praises and celebrates his fathers farming skills throughout his work and the relaxed movements and smooth rhythm that is described inwardly Heaneys poetry becomes a great reflection upon the poetic technique of him as a writer showing that though his father has metric physicality h e himself can create a great poetic flowNicking and slicing neatly, let loose sodomistsOver his shoulder, going down and downFor the good turf. Digging.Through these lines we see Heaney recreating the movement and allowing us to absorb the comminuted handling and controlled rhythm farming requires. Also the way the poet uses the title of the poem in a short sentence is very effective because it reinforces and reminds us of the key ideas Heaney wishes to highlight at heart this particular poem.The final two stanzas I believe are crucial to the success of the poem as a whole. Heaney firstly saysThe cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slapOf soggy peatThis again is a reflection of the auditory grammatical construction of the poem. We see here how the smells of Irish farming are as well as embedded in Heaneys memory the onomatopoeia and alliteration used here makes his senses opthalmic for the reader to interpret. Heaney goes on to stateThrough living root awaken in my hea d.solely Ive no spade to follow men like themMy rendering of this phrase would suggest the harsh globe that he himself is attached from the grow of his family tree. We see that though he admires his family greatly he hasnt got the drive, the skill or the ambition to continue and repeat their fine work. The fact Heaney doesnt have the skill of a farmer is reflected when he states But I have no spade this translates to tell the reader that he isnt at all like his family members and shows us that he is distancing himself from them. The poem ultimately ends with a stanza much like the firstBetween my finger and my clickThe squat pen rests.Ill dig with itIt is clearly noticeable that the poet has not used any reference to a gun here and we see he has replaced the gun with a tool so he whitethorn dig. I believe that when he says he will dig with his pen he is talking about digging into his family history and extoling his ancestors by continue their tradition in his own way. I believ e that the fact the subsist line in set in the future tense emphasizes Heaneys determination. I also think the ending of this poem concludes some miscellanea of temporary resolution yet we know the poet is not finished there is more that Heaney feels must be said in order to conclude his troubled mind and erase the stereotype. This brings us onto followerFollower being the title of this poem is in itself slightly ironic as he is writing of how he used to be a follower to his father as a child, traipsing around the farm yet there is the reality that now he knows he cannot follow his father in the family tradition. end-to-end this poem the skill and precision of Heaneys father is stressed. He starts stanza two by calling his father An expert. This is an extremely short sentence with no verbs which conveys the feeling that there is no dispute about Heaneys judgement of his father I believe it is an accurate opinion of the mans ability and precision.The phrase Single pluck proves h is father can turn a horse and plough around effortlessly this conveys the flawlessness he has achieved over time. In the next stanza Narrowed and angled is used to again describe the precise technique his father uses. The second half of the poem which consists of three stanzas, talks about Heaney as a child and how he acted rather than about his father and the skills he had. The starts of these three stanzas I believe are very significantI stumbled is the first, followed by I wanted and finally I was a nuisance. I think that these really prove to the reader Heaneys acceptance of his failure as a child and his failure as a farmer.Within the fourth stanza of Follower Heaney mentions the polished sod this again describes how neat his father was by allowing us to create a picture of how exact and absolute the farmland was the term sod means a surface cover with grass or turf it also can be a section cut or torn from the surface of grassland, containing the matted roots of grass we ima gine this to be tatty and not at all as Heaney describes it this reflects upon how his father was such a credible craftsman, it seems like he could perfect any land. The father son relationship is also reflected within FollowerSometimes he rode me on his back,Dipping and rising to his plod.We know that Heaneys father is a man of strength and power but here we see that he is also a man with love for his lamb son. Their loving relationship is prominent through the way he treats his son. These two lines show readers that they both enjoyed being together on the farm and also that Heaneys father showed sheer enjoyment when introducing his eldest son to a life of farming and to the traditional trade itself. Although Heaney was a nuisance his father would encourage him and help him a abundant. We see how Heaney is filled with idolisation towards his heroic father, he saysI wanted to grow and plough,To close one eye, stiffen my arm.This symbolizes his bewilderment and shows us that Heaney as a child saw farming as a way of emulating his fathers actions. I as a reader can understand what an immense opportunity farming could have been for Heaney it was a chance for him to live up to his fathers achievements and continue to accomplish grandness in the trade himself therefore glorifying the family name.Through studying this poem I can see how the poetry itself is much more flexible than that within Digging. I can see how he has eased up and feels he can be more personal with the way he writes he is talking about himself and his father directly throughout showing to me as a reader that he is calmer and no longer has so many serious and forceful points he must portray to us his mind seems more settled. He shows acceptance of his fathers work and growing tranquillity which is just slightly shattered as he shows again his defeat and regret at the end of the poem.As shown, Heaney uses many poetic techniques within his work , often he uses imagery this literacy devise is a great tool that brings his work to life creating a sense of immediacy that produces hopeful pictures in our minds making me as a reader feel come to and captured within the moment. Within Digging images of a man-machine are used to glorify and intensify the pictures we see when imagining Heaneys ancestors whereas Follower uses nautical imagery, this is imagery that is colligate to ships and boats.We are given the image of a man-machine in Digging through the powerful, masculine verbs Heaney uses he says rhythmic words such as straining and stooping they are monotonous, repetitive and reveal the strenuous nature of artless work illustrating the power his father and fathers father wielded with their shovel and sweat.Twenty historic period awayThis is a phrase that reinforces the repetitive nature of the physical compass it lets us know that farming is a job for life. Heaney visualises his father in his prime to place emphasize upon the power he had. The technical call used lik e lug, shaft and levered confirm the machine image. With machine-like the trueHe rooted out the tall tops, buried the bright progress deepThe alliteration used here enhances the readers visual imagery producing a picture of sustain and excellence.We see further on how the image of a man-machine is reinforced as Heaney speaks of his grandfather, he saysNicking and slicing neatly, heaving sodsOver his shoulder, going down and downFor the good turf.This shows us that the generations of skill have been passed down through the family as has the ancient tradition we see how Heaneys grandfather truly knew his craft. Great strength and power is exposed when reading these lines.Follower immediately illuminates the agricultural aspect of Ireland we see this is the first line where he says his father worked with a horse-plough to reinforce the Irish tillage Heaney uses technical terms such as wing, sock and headrig this shows his link in the farming tradition and his up bringing is reflec ted as we see he has come to learn the language of a true farmer.We came to realise that instead of the man machine images that are used in Digging Heaney uses nautical references to create imagery within Follower the nautical aspect is used to interpret the flow of his fathers work which works immensely well. The first of the nautical implications is when Heaney speaks of his father sayingHis shoulders globed like a full cruise strungThis simile is used to show the immense strength and great power within his fathers masculine physique it epically suggests that there are definite requirements and necessities needed to be as good a farmer as Heaneys father indeed is. I also believe that the word Globed is especially used as it has a hidden meaning I believe it suggests that Heaney thinks the world of his father and that it is a reflection of his fathers Godly ambience. The third line of the second stanza states thatThe sod rolled over without breakingThis nautical reference translat es to the fact that as the earth turned it looked like a wave breaking in the sea.Mapping the furrow exactlyThis is a navigational image, the use of the word exactly reveals that his father does the work precisely and perfectly emphasizing upon his experience and skill showing he has been working the land for a long time.Heaney also saysI stumbled in his hob-nailed wakeAgain this is said nautically when referring to his father this reference is meaning that heWas like a ships trail his father indeed being the ship itself. This reference could also symbolise an image of the ploughmans heavy boots, the carefully ploughed furrow and the childs clumsy enthusiasm.
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