Seamus Heaney Essay -- English Literature

Seamus HeaneySeamus Heaney was born in 1939 in Northern Ireland into a boorishfarming family. The family where Catholic, living in a predominantlyProtestant area of the country. I can relate to this as I come fromSouth Africa where the tightness between the black and white people ishigh, this has helped me to choose my first poem Docker. The secondpoem I am going to analyse is companion which tells the story of ayoung boy who grows up admiring his dad but as time ticks by, thingschange and people age. The third and final poem I will analyse isDigging which also is about a young lad who admires his dad for hisskill, but feels bad because he isnt as skilled as his father is andtherefore chooses to dig with his pen in the form of poetry.The poem Docker starts off with there, in the corner from this itcan be seen that the man is a lonely man who does not want to bebothered, all he is doing is staring at his drink. Speech clamped inthe lips, vice this use of metaphor indicates that he is a antisocial person with the word vice once again describing the manspower and strength. The Docker is then described as a baffling and toughman, Cowling plated forehead and sledge head jaw because he iscompared with very hard objects, such as a sledge head which is doout of steel.That fist would drop a hammer on a Catholic this verse is of aviolent nature which confirms the Docker as a violent aggressive manwho clearly does not like Catholics.The mans dislike for Catholics is emphasised even more in thefollowing verse The only roman letters collar he tolerates, smiles all roundhis sleek pint of porter. From this it can be said that even thewhite foam made by his beer reminds him of Cath... ...ss.I wanted to grow up and plough this proves that like with all littleboys, he wanted to be just like his dad when he grows up. He followshis father all round the farm In his broad shadow which againdescribes the mans huge build and strength.In this poem, the first five stanzas meet t he past, whereas thelast stanza represents the present. I was a nuisance, tripping andfalling The boy, who is now a man, comes to realise he was clumsy andunskilful who was always bothering his father Yapping always.But nowadays is the main contrast between past and present, It is myfather who keeps stumbling behind me and will not go away His fatherhas obviously aged and become enfeebled man his son has now grown upand become more powerful and skilful than what his father is. It ishis father who follows him around now and will not go away.