Critical Appreciation Of The Poem Digging By Seamus Heaney

“If you have the words, there’s always a chance that you’ll find the way.” Seamus Heaney created his poetry from finding inspiration of the things he experienced throughout his life. Seamus Heaney, wrote some of his major works of poetry during “The Troubles” which was when the conflict that raged between the Protestant and catholics in Ireland. Heaney was born April 1939, he’s the oldest member of his sisters and brother of nine. When his parents died his uncle took care of him. He grew up in the Republic of Ireland, for the first four years of his life in Glanmore cottage in Co Wicklow, then he lived in Sandymount, Dublin. Heaney attended the local primary school. He would watch American soldiers on maneuvers in The local fields

The life of his descendants are rich veins of gold that he can mine as inspiration. Even though the humble lives of his father and grandfather banal compared to heaney's life. In one of his poems “Digging” he shows three generations of men from his family. “ Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.”(line 1) He’s the oldest and reflects on his father and grandfather. He shows the similarities through the generation, and the differences. Heaney compares himself to the men who come before him. He knows he’s breaking family tradition by becoming a writer instead of a man that works on land, and that makes him feel uncomfortable. Another kind from “ Digging” states “My father digging. I look down” (line 5). He writing poetry while his father works outside. They are doing two vastly different activities. He was presume to carry on his family tradition of farming and cattle-dealing but instead went to st. Columb's college on a scholarship and later studied English language at Queen’s university Belfast. He followed his dreams and went to college to learn more about writing instead of