Meaning, Language & Structure – Similarities and Differences of Digging & On My First Sonne

By Mahjuz, Ash & Alex / Similarities / Differences
Meaning / - They’re both about a father and son relationship.
- Both of these were written out of guilt
- Both are being punished for what they have done. On My First Sonne Jonson is being punished for loving his son too much, and in Digging, Heaney is being punished by having to remember his past, and not live up to his father’s expectations.
- They both show admiration / - Digging is from the son’s point of view, whereas On My First Sonne is from the father’s point of view.
- They feel guilty for different reasons: Heaney feels guilty because he didn’t follow in his father’s footstep, but Jonson is guilty because he feels responsible for his son’s death.
- They show admiration for different things, Digging shows admiration towards his father whereas On My First Sonne shows admiration towards his son.
Language / - They both use language techniques to show admiration, Digging uses adverbs, and On My First Sonne uses metaphors. / - Digging has technical language in it like “shaft” to show that the son has learnt from his father
- On My First Sonne uses old language like “thy” and “tho”
- On My First Sonne has a semantic field to do with religion.
Structure / - They both use both present tense and past tense
- The structure of both poems show their “thought process”, On My First Sonne uses it to show his different emotions, and Digging uses it to show his memories. / - On My First Sonne has only one stanza whereas Digging has lots of stanzas
- On My First Sonne has rhyming couplets, but Digging has no rhyming scene
Personal Opinion