Analysis of Methaphors Usage in Poetry by Seamus Heaney

Metaphors are commonly used in poetry to enhance deeper meanings underneath the text. Authors employ these literary devices as a way to convey overarching messages by making comparisons to simple ideas that readers can comprehend. Often times, poets incorporate extended metaphors throughout an entire poem to develop clearer ideas and better reader understanding. Seamus Heaney utilizes the extended metaphor to convey overall themes of identity, self-reflection, and the act of writing in the poems, “Digging,” “Personal Helicon,” and “From the Frontier of Writing. ” Heaney is distinct in his poetry in the way that he applies extended metaphor and circular structure to communicate overall themes of individual creative exploration as a writer. In his poem “Digging,” Heaney employs the use of metaphor with the act of digging.

As the poem progresses, it becomes clear that the act of digging is both literal and metaphorical. The speaker describes, “Under my window, a clean rasping sound / When the spade sinks into gravelly ground: / My father, digging. I look down” (3-5). From the second stanza, readers get a first look at the metaphor in action. The father is described to literally be digging into the ground. From this description, it is assumed that the family lives on farmland and is very in tune with the natural world. As the poem progresses, readers get a better sense of the family dynamic seen in fifth stanza, “By God, the old man could handle a spade. / Just like his old man” (15-16).

At this point, the audience is starting to see themes of tradition. The act of farming has stayed within the family for years as each generation continues to dig adding to the pressure that the speaker feels to continue the legacy. However, instead of partaking in the digging, he is watching from his the window in his room. When observing, he is digging through his memories and recalling past experiences from when he was a child. It isn’t until the last stanza; “Between my finger and my thumb / The squat pen rests. / I’ll dig with it” (29-31) that readers understand that the speaker is metaphorically digging into writing. Looking back through the poem, the spade is actually his pencil. The metaphor extends as the speaker uses words such as “squat” to represent his perceived inferiority as a writer. This inferiority is made apparent due to Heaney’s positive diction in describing the seemingly long lasting tradition of manual labor in the family. Heaney exaggerates the agricultural background as masculine and strong. Although discouraged by the generational occupation, the speaker continues to explore the world of writing. The lines of the poem show how the speaker digged into his memories of the past until he found peace as a writer.

The poem “Personal Helicon” utilizes metaphors and analogies to demonstrate the speaker’s journey of exploration and self-reflection. The metaphor is immediately noticed in the title of the poem as “Helicon” is the name of a mountain in central Greece. In Greek mythology, it is said that Mt. Helicon housed one of two springs called Hippocrene. One Greek tale details the story of Narcissus, a god who is said to have been cursed with death after admiring his reflection in the spring and realizing that his love for himself could never be matched. This allusion of Greek mythology works to convey the themes of self-identity in Heaney’s poem with the aid of the well symbol.

The speaker recounts, “As a child they could not keep me from wells… I loved the dark drop, the trapped sky, the smells” (1-3). In the beginning of the poem, the speaker describes his love for the well using a childlike tone developed through Heaney’s diction. However, as the stanzas continue, so does time. The speaker grows older which is seen with the change of tone when describing the well. The well is no longer perfect, but instead rotted and deep. This realization is evident when the speaker describes “. . . a rat slapped across my reflection” (16). The negative description of the rat illustrates the realization of adulthood. The speaker recognizes that he is no longer a child, just as Narcissus recognizes his reflection. Throughout the entirety of the poem, the speaker has looked into these wells and seen his self. Left with the realization of his reflection, the speaker explains his passion for poetry. Unlike his father before him, the speaker has “. . . to pry into roots, to finger slime, / To stare, big-eyed Narcissus, into some spring / Is beneath all adult dignity. I rhyme” (17-19). Drifting away from his family’s tradition of agricultural manual labor, the speaker is uncovering his writing. He is no longer a curious juvenile, but instead he is an adult poet who is prying into his family roots and past memories. As he looks into the dark abyss of the past, the speaker is partaking in critical self-analysis and creating a stronger identity as a poet. Once more, Heaney develops an extended metaphor surrounding the act of writing itself in “From the Frontier of Writing. ” When reading through the poem, the literal translation is that of a battlefield.

A normal car is to be inspected by police who continue to interrogate the passengers and invade their privacies. Heaney uses this situation as a metaphor to portray the criticism that authors face after submitting their works. In the poem, it is seen that the first four stanzas represent the literal meaning of the poem, while the second four stanzas represent the figurative meaning. The speaker describes, “So you drive on to the frontier of writing / where it happens again. The guns on tripods; / the sergeant with his on-off mike repeating” (13-15). Heaney uses militaristic language to show the intensity and magnification of the criticism. In order to really elaborate the message, Heaney develops the metaphor which is seen throughout the tercets with the continuous intense language. This heaviness is seen all the way until the end of the poem when the speaker notes, “And suddenly you’re through, arraigned yet freed, / as if you’d passed from behind a waterfall” (19-21). After all the criticism is passed, authors are free once again.

Although the process is tedious and extreme, there is a reward at the end. Once you get through the harsh criticism, things become clear. The waterfall shows that outside opinions are washed away because the speaker is at peace with his writing. When one is confident in his or her own abilities, nothing else matters. This continues with the final simile in which the soldiers are like shadows seen in the polished windscreen (24). After the tough journey of writing, things become clear and one’s identity is strengthened. In conclusion, Heaney uses metaphors in his literature to strengthen the underlying messages by making comprehendable comparisons. Heaney accomplished this by using recognizable components to enhance deeper understandings.

In “Digging,” Heaney employs the action of digging to represent the speaker’s exploration of writing. Instead of a spade like his father, the speaker works with a pen to explore his passion. Similarly in “Personal Helicon,” Heaney relates the Greek tale of Narcissus to the speaker’s own realization. This awakening not only conveys themes such as loss of naivety, but also explains the speaker’s exploration of poetry. Much like Narcissus uses the wells to see his reflection, Heaney incorporates wells as a way to show the speaker’s discovery and acceptance of his identity as a poet. Lastly, Heaney utilizes the extended metaphor in “From the Frontier of Writing” to show the speaker’s interaction with critics. Writing critics are compared to soldiers on a battlefield responsible for investigating enemy cars. This metaphor enhances the deeper understanding of what the speaker experiences as a poet.