"Digging" is one of the most widely known poems by the Irish poet Seamus Heaney and serves as the opening poem of Heaney's debut 1966 poetry collection, Death of a Naturalist. It begins with the speaker hovering over a blank page with a pen, preparing to write. The speaker then reflects on the work ethic and skill of his father and grandfather, both of whom worked the land as farmers. Though the speaker is breaking with that specific familial tradition, the speaker presents writing as its own kind of labor, with speaker vowing to "dig" with the pen.
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The Full Text of “Digging”
The Full Text of “Digging”
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“Digging” Summary
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“Digging” Themes
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Labor and Craft
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2
- Lines 6-9
- Lines 10-14
- Lines 15-16
- Lines 17-24
- Line 28
- Lines 29-31
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Family and Tradition
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 3-31
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Digging”
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Lines 1-2
Between my finger ...
... as a gun. -
Lines 3-5
Under my window, ...
... I look down -
Lines 6-9
Till his straining ...
... he was digging. -
Lines 10-14
The coarse boot ...
... in our hands. -
Lines 15-18
By God, the ...
... on Toner’s bog. -
Lines 19-24
Once I carried ...
... good turf. Digging. -
Lines 25-28
The cold smell ...
... men like them. -
Lines 29-31
Between my finger ...
... dig with it.
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“Digging” Symbols
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Handheld tools
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Line 2: “pen,” “gun”
- Line 15: “spade”
- Line 30: “pen”
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“Digging” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 1: “my,” “my”
- Line 2: “squat,” “snug”
- Line 3: “sound”
- Line 4: “spade sinks”
- Line 5: “digging,” “down”
- Line 8: “drills”
- Line 9: “digging”
- Line 12: “tall tops,” “buried the bright”
- Line 13: “potatoes,” “picked”
- Line 14: “hardness,” “hands”
- Line 22: “slicing,” “sods”
- Line 23: “down and down”
- Line 24: “Digging”
- Line 25: “smell”
- Lines 25-26: “squelch and slap / Of soggy”
- Line 26: “curt cuts”
- Line 28: “spade”
- Line 29: “my,” “my”
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Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “my,” “my thumb”
- Line 2: “pen rests,” “snug as a gun”
- Line 3: “sound”
- Line 4: “sinks into,” “ground”
- Line 5: “digging,” “down”
- Lines 6-7: “flowerbeds / Bends”
- Line 7: “twenty”
- Line 8: “Stooping in rhythm through ”
- Line 10: “boot”
- Line 11: “knee,” “levered firmly”
- Line 12: “rooted,” “tall tops”
- Line 13: “To,” “new,” “potatoes”
- Line 14: “cool”
- Line 15: “man,” “handle”
- Line 19: “him milk in”
- Line 22: “Nicking,” “slicing,” “neatly,” “heaving”
- Line 23: “Over his shoulder,” “down,” “down”
- Line 25: “cold smell of potato mould,” “squelch”
- Line 26: “Of soggy peat,” “edge”
- Line 27: “Through,” “roots,” “ awaken,” “head”
- Line 28: “no,” “follow,” “men,” “them”
- Line 29: “my,” “my”
- Line 30: “pen rests”
- Line 31: “dig with it.”
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Caesura
Where caesura appears in the poem:- Line 2: “rests; snug”
- Line 3: “window, a”
- Line 5: “ father, digging. I”
- Line 7: “low, comes”
- Line 12: “tops, buried”
- Line 15: “God, the”
- Line 20: “paper. He”
- Line 21: “it, then”
- Line 22: “neatly, heaving”
- Line 23: “shoulder, going”
- Line 24: “turf. Digging”
- Line 25: “mould, the”
- Line 26: “peat, the”
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Consonance
Where consonance appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2
- Line 3
- Line 4
- Line 5
- Line 6
- Line 7
- Line 8
- Line 9
- Line 10
- Line 11
- Line 12
- Line 13
- Line 14
- Line 15
- Line 16
- Line 17
- Line 18
- Line 19
- Line 20
- Line 21
- Lines 22-23
- Line 24
- Line 25
- Line 26
- Line 27
- Line 28
- Lines 29-30
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End-Stopped Line
Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:- Line 2: “gun.”
- Line 4: “ground:”
- Line 9: “digging.”
- Line 11: “firmly.”
- Line 13: “picked,”
- Line 14: “hands.”
- Line 15: “spade.”
- Line 18: “bog.”
- Line 24: “Digging.”
- Line 27: “head.”
- Line 28: “them.”
- Line 30: “rests.”
- Line 31: “it.”
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Enjambment
Where enjambment appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “thumb / The”
- Lines 3-4: “sound / When”
- Lines 5-6: “down / Till”
- Lines 6-7: “flowerbeds / Bends”
- Lines 7-8: “away / Stooping”
- Lines 8-9: “drills / Where”
- Lines 10-11: “shaft / Against”
- Lines 12-13: “deep / To”
- Lines 17-18: “day / Than”
- Lines 19-20: “bottle / Corked”
- Lines 20-21: “up / To”
- Lines 21-22: “away / Nicking”
- Lines 22-23: “sods / Over”
- Lines 23-24: “down / For”
- Lines 25-26: “slap / Of”
- Lines 26-27: “edge / Through”
- Lines 29-30: “thumb / The”
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Extended Metaphor
Where extended metaphor appears in the poem:- Lines 3-9
- Lines 10-14
- Lines 17-21
- Lines 22-28
- Lines 29-31
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Onomatopoeia
Where onomatopoeia appears in the poem:- Line 3: “clean rasping sound”
- Lines 25-26: “the squelch and slap / Of soggy peat, the curt cuts”
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Repetition
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “Between my finger and my thumb / The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.”
- Line 5: “digging”
- Line 8: “potato”
- Line 9: “digging”
- Line 13: “potatoes”
- Line 15: “old man”
- Line 16: “old man”
- Line 23: “down and down”
- Line 24: “Digging”
- Line 25: “potato”
- Lines 29-30: “Between my finger and my thumb / The squat pen rests.”
- Line 31: “dig”
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Simile
Where simile appears in the poem:- Line 2: “snug as a gun.”
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“Digging” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Squat
- Snug
- Gravelly
- Rump
- Stooping
- Drills
- Coarse
- Lug
- Shaft
- Tall tops
- Spade
- Turf
- Toner's Bog
- Corked
- Sods
- Peat
- Curt
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(Location in poem: Line 2: “squat”; Line 30: “squat”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Digging”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Digging” Speaker
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“Digging” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Digging”
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More “Digging” Resources
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External Resources
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Heaney Looking Back — Heaney reflects on his life and career shortly after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature.
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Heaney's Life and Poetry — A valuable resource from the Poetry Foundation.
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Heaney in the Archive — Heaney reads and discusses some of his poems, including "Digging."
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Ireland and the Potato — An interesting article about the relationship between Ireland and its key crop.
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Heaney and Muldoon — Heaney interviewed by fellow Irish poet, Paul Muldoon.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Seamus Heaney
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