Discussing two or three Poems in Detail, Explain how you think Heaney

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Discussing two or three Poems in Detail, Explain how you think Heaney

Develops our Understanding of the Nature of Humanity and Existence

through Poetry

In this essay I will discuss the poems Digging, Wheels within Wheels

and Toome. I will explain how Heaney develops our understanding of

humanity and existence through the poems mentioned above. Heaney

mainly uses poetic techniques to express and expand our understanding

of the nature of existence and humanity. The ideas in Digging concern

relationships to ancestors, and to work. Heaney describes his

relationship to his father and grandfather purely in terms of their

work on the land. He takes the idea of digging, the commonest form of

work in any rural community, and uses it as a symbol for productive,

creative work in general, and for writing in particular. The idea in

Wheels within Wheels are about life in the metaphor of a wheel. Toome

is about the bog type land and the past.

I think Heaney develops our understanding of the nature of humanity by

bringing the theme of relationships on the farm into this poem.

Heaney's father has great skill when it comes to digging, "levered

firmly. This shows the reader that country life is not all easy, and

even to work on a farm, you need to have quite a lot of skill. The

images produced by these words are very effective because they give

the reader a picture of a man who is not only digging, but doing it

with immense skill, which is not something which we usually associate

with a job like that. This helps us understand why Heaney has chosen

to talk about his past and digging. The continuation of farming from

Heaney's grandfather, to Heaney's father, "the old man could handle a

spade. Just like his old man" shows the reader that country life is

very family orientated, and professions are often carried down from

father to son. The images of Heaney's father being taught to dig by

his father are very powerful and effective, because they show the

reader the strong bonds between humanity on a farm, and that human

nature has not changed. The last line, "The squat pen rests. I'll dig

with it." shows that in the country, it is often expected that people

like Heaney will follow in their father's footsteps, but Heaney is

seen here to choose to be a writer. The image of Heaney digging out

his memories with pen are very effective because the reader can

visualise the likeness between poetry and farming. Heaney uses

alliterative language to go back to the roots of time and human

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