Digging

Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.

Under my window, a clean rasping sound
When the spade sinks into gravelly ground:
My father, digging. I look down

Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds
Bends low, comes up twenty years away
Stooping in rhythm through potato drills
Where he was digging.

The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft
Against the inside knee was levered firmly.
He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep
To scatter new potatoes that we picked,
Loving their cool hardness in our hands.

By God, the old man could handle a spade.
Just like his old man.

My grandfather cut more turf in a day
Than any other man on Toner’s bog.
Once I carried him milk in a bottle
Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up
To drink it, then fell to right away

Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods
Over his shoulder, going down and down
For the good turf. Digging.

The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap
Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge
Through living roots awaken in my head.
But I’ve no spade to follow men like them.

Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I’ll dig with it.

Summary of Digging

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in “Digging”

  1. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought or clause that does not come to an end at a line break; instead, it moves over the next line. For example,

“The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap
Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge
Through living roots awaken in my head.”

  1. Imagery:Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “Between my finger and my thumb”, “The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft” and “The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap.”
  2. Assonance:Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /e/ in “The squat pen rests; snug as a gun” and the sound of /ea/ in “Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods”.
  3. Consonance:Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /l/ in “The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap” and the sound of /ng/ in “Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods.”
  4. Alliteration:Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick successions. For example, the sound of /t/ in “He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep” and the sound of /c/ in “Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge”.
  5. Symbolism:Symbolism means to use symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. “Digging” symbolizes tradition.
  6. Simile: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different in nature using as or like. For example, “The squat pen rests; snug as a gun”. Here the pen is compared to a gun. Though not physically, a pen or a written word can also hurt people.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “Digging”

  1. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are eight stanzas in this poem. Each stanza varies in length.
  2. Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here third and seventh stanzas are quatrain.
  3. Free Verse:Free Verse is a type of poetry that does not contain patterns of rhyme or meter. This is a free-verse poem with no strict rhyme or meter.
  4. Repetition: The following lines are repeated in the first and last stanza of the poem which has created a musical quality in the poem. For example,

“Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.”

  1. Refrain: The lines repeated at some distance in the poems is called a refrain. The following verses are repeated with the same words, it has become refrain as they have been repeated in the first and last stanzas of the poem. For example,

“Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.”

Quotes to be Used

The lines stated below are suitable for children to make them understand how potatoes are cultivated. You can also use these lines to help the children understand the value of hard work.

“He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep
To scatter new potatoes that we picked,
Loving their cool hardness in our hands.”

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