Digging

Fiction | Poem | Adult

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Further Reading & Resources

Related Poems

“Death of a Naturalist” by Seamus Heaney (1966)

This is the titular poem of the 1966 book in which “Digging” was originally published. “Digging” directly preceded “Death of a Naturalist” in the collection, so the content and meanings of each poem are naturally interrelated. “Death of a Naturalist” recalls some of the same themes present in “Digging,” though the tone of the poem is a bit more lighthearted.

“The Grauballe Man” by Seamus Heaney (1975)

One of Heaney’s oft-remembered bog poems originally published in his North collection in 1975, “The Grauballe Man” is another of Heaney’s forays into memory, inheritance, and violence. Reflecting upon one of the oldest bog bodies found in Denmark in the 1950s, this poem presents an interesting take on victims of brutality, ancient and contemporary.

“Blackberry-Picking” by Seamus Heaney (1966)

Another from Heaney’s 1966 Death of a Naturalist collection, this poem seeks to combine the natural beauty of the Northern Ireland landscape with darker themes: innocence lost, death, and the inevitability of change all feature in this piece, making it a good companion to “Digging.”

“Easter, 1916” by William Butler Yeats (1916)

This poem by another Irish poet, Modernist William Butler Yeats, details some of the earlier political strife in Ireland. Written about the Easter Rising of 1916, Yeats’s poem gives example of the longevity and power of the unrest in Ireland. Though Yeats and Heaney ultimately seem to have very little in common—one is a Modernist, the other a Postmodernist; one is a Catholic, and the other is a Protestant; one is from Northern Ireland, and one is from Dublin—there is a line of literary inheritance between the two poets based on their shared allegiances to their home country.

“Zombie” by The Cranberries (1994)

Songs are poetic in nature, so though this piece is not officially considered a poem, it uses poetic devices set to music to create a similar effect. The Cranberries, an Irish rock band, wrote and performed “Zombie” in the early nineties, at what seemed like the height of the Troubles. Their song, like Heaney’s poems, is harsh and touched by the violence of the time.

Further Literary Resources

“Poetry in Modern Ireland: Where Postcolonial and Postmodern Part Ways” by Christina Hunt Mahony (1996)

Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1996, Mahony’s article presents an in-depth exploration of several Postmodern Irish poets, including Heaney. Mahony comments in the opening paragraph that the writers’ poems are “weighted even more heavily by the association of the death of the father with the death of tradition in Ireland” (Mahony 82). This article provides further historical and literary context to the time period, setting, and personal losses that make Heaney’s “Digging” such a powerful representation of Irish Postmodernism.

“Irish Nationalism and Irish Catholicism: A Study in Cultural Identity” by Lawrence J. McCaffrey (1973)

McCaffrey’s 1973 essay also explains contextual information relevant to Heaney and his poetry. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Society of Church History, McCaffrey’s “Irish Nationalism and Irish Catholicism: A Study in Cultural Identity” provides key details as to the cultural, political, and religious background present during Heaney’s lifetime. While this source does not give any details of Heaney or Irish literary movements, an understanding of Irish culture and the Troubles in Northern Ireland is vital to understanding Heaney’s poetry.

“How the Troubles began: a timeline” by Ronan McGreevy (2019)

McGreevy breaks down the timeline of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in this piece for The Irish Times from 2019. Like McCaffrey’s essay, this article gives context to the political and cultural situation in Northern Ireland in the second half of the 20th century. However, this article streamlines the information in a more palatable format that is easier to understand for the average reader. McGreevy lists dates and details for key events.

“What were the Troubles?” uploaded by Imperial War Museums (2020)

This YouTube video, uploaded by Imperial War Museums in 2020, offers another streamlined view of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. While a timeline is not provided with the same detail as in McGreevy’s “How the Troubles began: a timeline,” this video presents a clearer overview of the entire political situation, particularly for readers or viewers who are not already familiar with the Troubles.