Digging

“Death of a Naturalist” by Seamus Heaney (1966)

This is the titular poem of the 1966 book in which “Digging” was originally published. “Digging” directly preceded “Death of a Naturalist” in the collection, so the content and meanings of each poem are naturally interrelated. “Death of a Naturalist” recalls some of the same themes present in “Digging,” though the tone of the poem is a bit more lighthearted.

“The Grauballe Man” by Seamus Heaney (1975)

One of Heaney’s oft-remembered bog poems originally published in his North collection in 1975, “The Grauballe Man” is another of Heaney’s forays into memory, inheritance, and violence. Reflecting upon one of the oldest bog bodies found in Denmark in the 1950s, this poem presents an interesting take on victims of brutality, ancient and contemporary.

“Blackberry-Picking” by Seamus Heaney (1966)

Another from Heaney’s 1966 Death of a Naturalist collection, this poem seeks to combine the natural beauty of the Northern Ireland landscape with darker themes: innocence lost, death, and the inevitability of change all feature in this piece, making it a good companion to “Digging.”

“Easter, 1916” by William Butler Yeats (1916)

This poem by another Irish poet, Modernist William Butler Yeats, details some of the earlier political strife in Ireland.