This paper discusses the life, beliefs, values and significance of the poem “Digging” by Seamus Heaney, winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize for Literature.
This paper discusses the Irish poet ,Seamus Heaney, who is the most prolific poet of our times and one of the best Irish literary figures to emerge after Yeats. The author points out that “Digging” refers to “a passion” that give a meaning and purpose to life. The paper examines his unassuming, non-aggressive approach that makes his work standout among heaps of conventional political poems. The references are annotated.
“Born in 1939, Seamus rose to the heights of international fame when his first collection of poems appeared in 1966 titled, “Death of the Naturalist”. It was in this collection that his most widely read poem appeared which gives a reason to believe that Seamus’ past is important to him and his rural background has always been a source of pride. This is one reason why we notice references to his past deeply embedded in many of his poems most noticeably in Digging, a poem that talks about Seamus’ life on a farm in Mossbawn, a place “30 miles northwest of Belfast”.”