Digging - poem - by Seamus Heaney - Notes

“DIGGING” – POEM - SUMMARY

“Digging” is a poem written by Seamus Heaney. He is an Irish Poet, Playwright and translator. Haney was considered one of principal contributors to poetry during his lifetime. The poem starts off in the present, moves into the past and then returns to the present and hints at the future towards the end.

While holding a pen between his finger and his thumb, the poet reflects upon the rural history of his family, the men who worked in the field. The poem starts with the poet’s description of his father working under the window with his spade. His father was digging the garden. The notable fact is that the speaker holds a pen like a gun (which is a symbol of the power of the present) while the spade used by his father is a thing of the past. Gradually, looking at his father, the poet goes back to the memories of twenty years past. In the past his father was digging in the potato drills. The poet also used to involve in gathering of the potatoes that were dug by his father. He still remembers their coolness and hardness. The poet says that his father was able to handle the spade just like his father (poet’s grandfather). Now, the memory of the poet further shifts to his childhood days when he saw his grandfather digging a turf. His grandfather used to cut more turf in a day than any other man in their area. The poet also informs how he took a bottle of milk for his grandfather and how he drank the milk and immediately went back to his work.  The poet presents the rural setting by describing the visions and sounds of the field while his grandfather was working. Thus he remembers all the past days of work in the field both by his father and grandfather.

The poet says that now he has no spade to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. The family roots are cut metaphorically. But, the poet says that he too can dig with his pen. Thus, the poem presents both nostalgic feeling of the poet as well as the differences between the occupations from one generation to the other generation. While the past generations used spade to dig the field to do cultivation, the present generation uses the mighty pen to enlighten the society with writings.

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Noojilla Srinivas, Lecturer in English, Govt. Degree College, Alamuru. Ph: 7981862200

Please watch the video with explanation. 

youtube: https://www.youtube.com/noojillasrinivaswriter

Blog: http://englishnotessummary.blogspot.com/

ONCE UPON A TIME - Poem by Gabriel Okara - Summary Notes

ONCE UPON A TIME – Poem – by Gabriel Okara

(SUMMARY )

            “Once Upon A Time” is a poem written by Gabriel Okara, a famous Nigerian poet. Okara was considered to be one of the first modern African poets. He uses folklore, religion, myth and social issues in his works. The present poem was extracted from his book “The Fisherman’s Invocation”.

The poem captures a father’s speech to his son. It focuses on a father's concern over the cultural changes occurring in the African society due to the influence of Western culture. This poem shows the contrast between the old culture based on values such as friendliness, genuineness, love, kindness, etc., and the modern culture based on the materialistic things and artificial relations. In the poem the father tells his son how things used to be in his childhood or in the olden days.

In the past, people used to laugh with their hearts and eyes. This means, they used to laugh wholeheartedly and genuinely. In contrast, laughter in the present days is more of a show of teeth. The eyes are cold and looking for something other than the real person. The speaker says that in the past people used to shake hands wholeheartedly. That is, their greetings were genuine. But, in the present days, the people shake hands on one side and search in others pockets on the other side. That means, they greet others for their own selfish expectations. In the past days people used to welcome guests wholeheartedly. But, in the present days, the invitations are too practical and artificial. Outwardly they say, “Come again”, but inwardly they don’t want others to come again. Outwardly they say “Good bye”, but they actually mean “good riddance”. They say “glad to meet you” without ever feeling glad.

The poet regretfully says that he too has transformed his nature influenced by the modern culture. He says that he too learnt the way of wearing different faces for different occasions. He too learnt to smile artificially like a smile in the photograph. But, he expresses his desire to change his nature and go to the past days. He seeks the support of his son in this aspect. He says that he wants to laugh just like his son who laughs innocently. So, the speaker asks his son to show how he used to laugh when he was in the age of his son.

Thus, the poem presents the conflict between the old and modern cultures with a tone of nostalgia.

Prepared by: NOOJILLA SRINIVAS, Lecturer in English, Govt.Degree College, Alamuru.

Ph: 7981862200

References:

1. https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-of-Poem-Once-Upon-A-Time-by-Gabriel-Okara
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Okara
3. https://englishnotessummary.blogspot.com/
4. youtube.com/c/noojillasrinivaswriter/ 
5. https://www.facebook.com/EnglishComunicationResources/  

Syness My Shield - My experiments with Truth - by Mahatma Gandhi - Video

Syness My Shield - My experiments with Truth - by Mahatma Gandhi - Videos;

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Shyness My Shield - Extract from My Experiments with Truth - Mahatma Gan...

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