Digging+Hyperlinks

**__Digging__**
Spade: This is the traditional tool used by the poet's father and grandfather, that the poet is deciding not to continue to use in family tradition. Described in the poem, the profession involving a spade has been continued for at least two generations of the poets family. But the poet changes this tradition when he works with a pen in his room, rather than a spade in a field.

Pen: The pen is the tool used by the poet in contrast to the poet's family's traditional tool, the spade. Rather than continue the traditional use of the spade in his family, the poet chooses to work with a pen.

Digging: "Digging" is the title of this poem by Seamus Heaney. It is the traditional profession for the men in Heaney's family that Heaney has decided to change, because he would rather work with a pen rather than a spade.

Pen: The poem "Digging, by Seamus Heaney is a poem about the change in a traditional job for the men of Heaney's family. In the poem Heaney describes how he is giving up the traditional job of the man in his family of a digger, and instead he decides to be a poet. Heaney is up in his room working with his pen and he puts it in comparison to the spade that his father and his father's father work with. This is a poem of change, because Heaney discontinues the man's job as a digger in his family and changes the job for his generation to be working with a pen. I also really admired how Heaney said in the last line of this poem: "Between my finger and my thumb the squat pen rests. I'll dig with it." Although Heaney's poem is about him changing from a digger into a poet, he still tries to connect what he does to what his father and grandfather does when he quotes that he will dig with his pen.

We: In the poem "Digging", Seamus Heaney is describing how rather than dig like the past generations of his family, he decided to be a poet. This poem originally made me think that Heaney was a lot different than the rest of his family and could not relate to his father because he discontinued his family's tradition. Later on in the poem, Heaney writes about the potatoes that he and his father picked. This particular line showed me that even though Heaney discontinued the traditional job in his family, he still is close with his father and they do things together, just like other families. The stanza after that describes how Heaney would also interact with his father when he was digging and I noticed that Heaney may be different than the men in his family, but that doesn't affect his relationship between him and his father. The word "we" in this poem is what expresses that Heaney and his father still do things together and are not effected by their differences.

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The reason Seamus Heaney wrote the poem "Digging" was to express the change in tradition between his work with a pen and his father's work with a spade. Heaney wrote this poem also to show that aside the differences in jobs, he and his father are still able to connect and have a good relationship. The message in this poem was that even if one chooses a different path in life than his family's past generations, that change should not effect the relationship between that person and their family. Even though Heaney decided to be a poet and discontinue the traditional job for the man in his family as a digger, the relationship between him and his father was not effected. Heaney works with father, even though it is not what he prefers, and is able to do what he wants to do without upsetting his father/grandfather.



__**Spring**__
Spring: Spring is the change in seasons between winter and summer. It is when the snow melts and the trees are blossoming, it is like a new beginning, describes the poem "Spring".

Beginning: The [|dictionary.com] definition of the word beginning is: "the point of time or space at which anything begins". I chose the word "beginning because that is the word that comes to my mind when I think about spring. Spring can be expressed as a "beginning" because it is when things come to life. Trees blossom and animal play, nothing is dead or cold like they were during the winter.

Glassy: The word glassy in this poem is used to describe the newly blossomed peaches after the winter. This word expresses the change from a cold era, to a season where things have just begun to live again.

Blooms: During the season of spring, plants bloom and animals come out from their winter homes and play. Spring is a time of joy, because the season of cold and darkness has ended, and I think that the word "blooms" in this poem expresses spring with a deep meaning. During spring not only do the flowers and trees bloom in the poem "Spring", but so do other living things. Metaphorically speaking, animals and people bloom during the spring, they come out of their buds (homes) and show their happier side of life, because they are happy winter is over and the sun is coming out. This is why when I think of spring, I think of it as the season of blooming.

Joy: Spring is a joyous and uplifting time of year, because winter has ended and the days are warmer. Joy is a major theme in the poem "Spring", it is expressed in this poem through "little low heavens", "glassy peartree leaves and blooms ", and "the earth’s sweet being in the beginning  ". These are all quotes of the poem "spring" that represent joyous things that happen during the time of spring. No longer do people or animals have to hide indoors and keep away from the cold, because winter has ended and spring, a time of sunshine and new beginnings has arrived. That is why joy is a major theme in the poem "Spring".

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Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote the poem "Spring" to express the changes and feelings that the season spring goes through. Hopkins wrote this poem to explain how the trees bloom and the seasons change between winter and spring and it is like a new beginning, because living things live freely again. Hopkins accomplished in sending out this message, because while reading this poem I thought about how going from winter to spring is like having a new beginning, and starting a new life cycle.