Comparing ‘ Follower ‘ and ‘ Digging ‘ Essay Example

and says:

-  But I've no spade to follow men like them.

Between my finger and my thumb, the squat pen rests. I'll dig with it. This shows how he doesn't want to follow his family's tradition anymore, but instead, he wants to ' dig ' with his pen which is the equivalent to writing with it. The two poems are different in this sense but suggest that maybe he was younger in Follower than in Digging. Both poems rhyme, but in the Follower, it follows an AB half-rhyme scheme and is consistent throughout the entire poem.

In ' Digging ' however, it sometimes rhymes and sometimes doesn't. It's not consistent and it's not always a half-rhyme unlike ' Follower '. Neither poem has a strong rhythm, but in ' Digging ' there is a repetition of the first line of the first stanza - ' Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests ', into the first line of the last stanza. This might have been for emphasis or because it makes a nice memorable ending. There is a difference in the choice of language in the two poems.

' Follower ' uses quite poetic words, with a few onomatopoeias. This creates a sense of respect almost for the writer's father. In 'Digging' the writer uses quite a poetic language also, with some onomatopoeias, but in the middle of the poem, there is some colloquial ( spoken ) language in there, which only adds to the effect of the poem. The structures of the poems are also quite different, however, they both contain enjambment. In 'Follower' there are six 4 lined stanzas, which follow an AB

half-rhyming pattern. In ' Digging ' each stanza is varied - there are 8 stanzas, the first being 2 lines, then 3, then 4, then 5, then 2, then 8, then 4 and finally another 3.

The first stanza acts almost like an introduction. The second and third stanza I think was originally only one, but the writer separated them in order to create enjambment and emphasis on the word ' down '. The fifth stanza is two lines, but it's colloquial language and is separated from the rest of the poem. The sixth stanza ( 8 lines ) is the longest and tells the story of his grandfather.

The seventh stanza is another 4 lines, with the last stanza repeating most of the first stanza and reducing in line length on each of the three lines.