The two merge into a sense of continuity, taking part in a tradition of which the speaker is currently excluded from. While he did perform menial tasks like picking potatoes or bringing his grandfather milk, he still remained peripheral in family life. .
Regardless, it is clear that the speaker still has a love and respect for the work of his fathers, as seen in lines such as, "By God, the man could handle a spade," and "My grandfather cut more turf in a day/Than any man on Toner's bog." He is proud of his ancestry, and wishes to keep his regional identity alive. Therein lies the problem, as seen in the very meaningful line, "But I've no spade to follow men like them." The speaker's "spade" is lodged elsewhere, forbidding him from participating in his family's trade. The privilege of higher education serves as a disjunction between the speaker and the symbolic act of digging. .
The speaker is obviously concerned with being alienated from his family, and feels a need to connect with their past. The solution to his problem is found in the final lines, "The squat pen rests/I"ll dig with it." In these few simple words, Heaney makes the huge implication that by writing, the act which he felt he was called to do, he will be doing his own form of "digging." .
"Digging" itself was dug up. When asked about the poem, Heaney said "it was laid down in me years ago," suggesting that by writing, Heaney did not start something new, but merely uncovered something hidden. This strengthens the image of continuity .
Jones 3.
by comparing Heaney's works to his father's fields: like farming, in Heaney's form of "digging," many treasures will be uncovered, and when done, he will be able to look back, survey his hard work and take pride in it.
Heaney's ancestral history is kept alive through his poetry. His education has given him the training to write about his heritage with skill. David Lloyd adds, .
