Attempt a critical analysis of Seamus Heaney's 'Digging'.Comment on Heaney's strong use of sibilance.

The poem "Digging" is in Heaney's first collection of
poems called "Death of a Naturalist" (1966).
This poem is the first poem of this collection. It is a free
verse poem written in first person narrative, with eight stanzas containing two
couplets. The free structure of this poem allows Heaney to freely express his respect of
the Irish tradition as well as his pride and dignity towards his
ancestors.

The poem starts and ends with the same lines
"between my finger and my thumb/The squat pen rests" but the first stanza ends
with "as snug as a gun" and the last
stanza ends with "I'll dig with it."
Thus, Heaney foregrounds the importance of the writer's
profession and craft by breathing new life into the cliched idiom "the pen is mightier
than the sword." Heaney affirms that he has decided to choose his own career path, as a
writer. It is clear that Heaney feels confident that he is very skilled with a pen and
demonstrates and proves that he is an accomplished poet by writing this very thought
provoking poem.

The title "Digging" is usually interpreted
as an act of hard labor. It awakens our curiosity for we want to know the reasons why he
is digging and what he is digging for.

The poem basically
describes his father digging potato drills and the grandfather cutting
turf:

"By God,
the old man could handle a spade,

Just like his old
man."

However the poet does
not praise their strength as diggers. But the act of digging is associated more with the
passing on of special values from generation to generation. There is also an extended
metaphor of digging and roots in the poem, which shows how the poet, in his writing, is
getting back to his own identity, and where his family comes from: "Digging....through
living roots awaken in my head."

Heaney realizes that in
choosing 'the squat pen' over 'the spade' he is in fact 'digging' up memories of his
ancestors, and thus enabling the process of the historical past giving meaning to the
present. So all in all, he draws the conclusion that whilst we must not forget our
roots,we must pursue our own passions and dreams in life. For Heaney, it is his chosen
calling as a writer in which he finds solace, which enables him to transfer memories
onto paper, giving old thoughts the power to transcend
time.

Heaney's simultaneous onomatopoeic and alliterative
use of  the sibilant sound of /s/ captures very precisely the sound of the spade digging
into the soft earth:

readability="5">

the squelch and
slap
Of soggy
peat