Comparison between the Writer by Richard Wilbur and Digging by Seamus Heaney - Essay Example

Comparison between "The by Richard Wilbur and "Digging" by Seamus Heaney "The by Richard Wilbur and "Digging" by Seamus Heaney both talk about the writing profession, referring to it as a laborious task very hard to master. "The Writer" is a poem written from the perspective of a writer parent watching his daughter aspiring to become a writer herself. "Digging" describes a writer who watches his father doing their traditional family job of farming. Though both the poems deal with father sibling relationship, Richard Wilbur's "The Writer" is much more satisfying and interesting to read. A writer talks about another budding writer here with empathy and fatherly love. The imagery and language used in the poem is extremely powerful, kindling the hidden parental love within the readers. The "Digging" showcases the mentality of a writer son who considers his family profession inferior to his status, but ultimately realizes the importance of his traditional roots. The writer son places his own writing skills in high esteem at par with his ancestor’s matchless farming skills. The poet uses lots of imagery in the poem to create a picturesque view of potato farms and fields in the reader's mind. In "The Writer" the poet Richard Wilbur hears his daughter using a typewriter in the process of writing a story. The poet uses two images as metaphor throughout the poem. For the first nine lines he portrays his daughter as a captain of a ship symbolizing her journey as a writer. The very first line of the poem begins with the lines "In her room at the prow of the house. The constant and steady noise of the keys being hit sound "like a chain hauled over a gunwale" to him. The simile is used here to indicate the daughter’s words are free flowing and she is doing the job with ease. The daughter's experience is compared to managing a great cargo and the poet wishes her "a lucky passage". But very soon her attempts are startled and she starts typing slowly, symbolizing her imagination is disturbed and she is trying hard to write down what she is thinking. Sidney Sheldon, the creator or numerous bestselling novels, once said "A blank piece of paper is God's way of telling us how hard it is to be God." These words best describe the dilemma of writers when they try hard to express exactly what they think. The second image which uses a trapped bird's attempt to escape as a metaphor to a writer’s effort depicts this struggle beautifully. The writer uses onomatopoetic sounds to depict the bird's struggle realistically in these lines. "Batter against the brilliance, drop like a glove/ To the hard floor, or the desk-top/ And wait then, humped and bloody" (Wilbur). He uses explosive sounds stressing "b", "d" and "p" sounds along with "t" and "k" sounds to make it sound harsh and rude. When the bird escapes later he uses smooth "s" sounds in lines like "our spirits/ Rose when, suddenly sure, ... Beating a smooth course for the right window" (Wilbur). The bird finally finds its way out of the house because it tried without giving up even though it kept banging itself voluntarily on various things lost and confused. The last three lines of the poem combine the images of both the metaphors together. He refers to his daughter as "darling" in rhyme with the bird "starling". He compares the life and death struggle of the bird with that of his daughter’s efforts. At last he refers back to the "lucky passage" of ship he wished for his daughter earlier and adds an addendum which concludes "I wish/ What I wished you before, but harder" (Wilbur). Wilbur’s poem is very simple but powerful. It represents the strong love of a father as well as the experience of a matured writer who is watching a novice writer struggle his way through the field. The predicament of the writers is similar to the plight of the bird. They purposely subject themselves to this peril and succeed at the end in creating one masterpiece. The divinity of the moment makes them forget all their previous struggling. From his experience he knows the birth of a writer occurs after much struggle because writer becomes godly when he actually creates a work and is ready to endure any struggle to get this mental satisfaction. It is similar to the birds struggle for freedom with life and death efforts. While this poem is written from a perspective of a father, “Digging” is written from the prospective of an educated son, who views his father as a simple man. "Digging" starts with the poet Seamus Heaney trying to establish he is superior to his father who is a simple farmer. The poem uses great amount of imagery to create empathy. What is done effortlessly in "The Writer" is done using several comparisons and metaphors here. Even the title of the poem brings the image of death and funeral to some people minds while it actually refers to working in the field. The poem starts by the writer stating, he is holding his pen as "snug as a gun" (Heaney). It further describes the poet viewing his father working in a garden from his work desk. The writer compares his pen to his gun and sits in a high position while his father works below him using his spade. The poem switches to the flashback in the third stanza. The enjambment between the second and third stanza is used to take us back twenty years behind stressing the gap in time. The poet now begins to feel the importance of the hard labour his ancestors has done. He describes how professionally his father dug out the potatoes with the ease and comfort of an expert in the following lines: The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft Against the inside knee was levered firmly. He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep. (Heaney) He also mentions how his only contribution to this hard labour as a boy was to scatter the potatoes. The users also feel the "cool hardness" of the potatoes when he describes them with much enthusiasm. This realization transforms into admiration and pride in the stanzas that follow. The exclamation "By God, the old man could handle a spade" (Heaney) and his comparison of his father’s skill to his grandfather who can cut more turf than any other person, everything proves the writer no longer looks down upon his farmer father. Rather, he feels a distinct pride in their traditional occupation. The seventh stanza too uses the best techniques in imagery presenting something for all our senses though these lines: The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge. (Heaney) The poet then suddenly realizes he cannot handle a spade like them, but he reassures himself, his pen is his spade with which he can write about the love of farming and inspire several others to take up the same. The poet, who looked down upon his father because of his educational status, realizes the skill of his ancestors in the middle of the poem. Another realization that he is not as skilled as them in handling the spade also dawns upon him. But he quickly makes up for it stating he has his pen with which he can carry on the love for digging. The poem uses maximum imagery and is complex to understand at times. But, its vivid flow makes the reader get the message at the end. “Digging” is a well written poem expressing the difference in views created due to generation gap and the changing times. It also shows how children learn to appreciate their traditional values at some point when they become mature enough. But it fails to create the empathy and drama “The Writer” generates. The sense of relief we get when the bird flies out and the daughter starts typing again in “The Writer” is lacking in “Digging.” Conclusion Both “Digging” and “The Writer” are masterpieces using various forms of poetic structures. But, “The Writer” scores better compared to both the poems as it makes the reader identify themselves with their parents better than “Digging”. Not only writers but every parent wishes a luck passage for their children in whatever they endure. The poem seems more satisfying as it dwells entirely on this universal concept. Works Cited Heaney, Seamus. "Digging". Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, 1966. Web. 5 May 2013. Wilbur, Richard. “The Writer.” Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 1988. Web. 5 May 2013. Read More