Poetry Slam!: "Digging" by Seamus Heaney

The poet praises his family's farming prowess while contemplating his identity as a writer. Read the text here.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. squat
    short and thick
    Between my finger and my thumb
    The squat pen rests
  2. rasp
    scrape with a coarse file
    Under my window, a clean rasping sound
    When the spade sinks into gravelly ground:
    My father, digging.
  3. spade
    hand shovel that can be pushed into the earth with the foot
    Under my window, a clean rasping sound
    When the spade sinks into gravelly ground:
    My father, digging.
  4. strain
    exert much effort or energy
    Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds
    Bends low, comes up twenty years away
    Stooping in rhythm through potato drills
    Where he was digging.
  5. stoop
    bend one's back forward from the waist on down
    Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds
    Bends low, comes up twenty years away
    Stooping in rhythm through potato drills
    Where he was digging.
  6. coarse
    rough to the touch
    The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft
    Against the inside knee was levered firmly.
  7. nestle
    lie in a sheltered position
    The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft
    Against the inside knee was levered firmly.
  8. shaft
    a long rod or pole, especially the body of a weapon
    The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft
    Against the inside knee was levered firmly.
  9. handle
    manage effectively
    By God, the old man could handle a spade.
    Just like his old man.
  10. turf
    surface layer of ground containing a mat of grass and roots
    My grandfather cut more turf in a day
    Than any other man on Toner’s bog.
  11. bog
    wet spongy ground of decomposing vegetation
    My grandfather cut more turf in a day
    Than any other man on Toner’s bog.
  12. sod
    surface layer of ground containing a mat of grass and roots
    He straightened up
    To drink it, then fell to right away
    Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods
    Over his shoulder, going down and down
    For the good turf.
  13. mold
    fungus that produces a superficial growth on organic matter
    The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap
    Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge
    Through living roots awaken in my head.
  14. squelch
    the noise of soft mud being walked on
    The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap
    Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge
    Through living roots awaken in my head.
  15. curt
    brief and to the point
    The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap
    Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge
    Through living roots awaken in my head.
Created on Fri Aug 30 10:29:50 EDT 2013 (updated Tue Aug 01 11:29:33 EDT 2023)

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