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At A Potato Digging by Seamus Heaney Analysis
At A Potato Digging by Seamus Heaney Analysis
Heaney Analysis
Section 1:
The first section depicts modern day farmers harvesting
potatoes. The earth is
personified as Mother, which as this point in the poem
gives the soil and nature a loving,
caring quality. Section one also suggests that this tradition
of potato digging is ingrained
into Irish society through the phrase `processional stooping
through the turf recurs
mindlessly as autumn'. There is no thought process in this
event, and it is a natural and
habitual as summer turning into autumn. Finally, there are
religious connotations
throughout. `Famine god' and `altar of sod' connotes a
sense of worshiping the earth that
gives them potatoes, but also a sense of fear that the
`famine god' could choose to
take them away.
Section 2:
This section focuses on the potatoes once they have been
dug up. Sibilance is used in
this section to orally recreate the processes of potato
farming. `Split by the spade'
implies the sound of the spade cutting through a potato.
Simile is used when describing
the potatoes insides as `white as cream'. As cream is used
as a topping on deserts, this
makes the potatoes sound tasty and pleasing, but could