Heaney 'Follower'

'His shoulders globed like a full string strung.' - This can be interpreted to mean his father was strong, hardworking, and Seamus admired him. It also shows that he protects his son.

'The horses strained at his clicking tongue' - This shows his father had complete control over his horses, and the rest of his work. He is very precise and efficient, and passionate about what he does.

'With a single pluck/Of reins, the sweating team turned around' This shows his father worked together with his agricultural animals, and was not cruel to them, but they got the job done. Again it shows his control over them.

'Dipping and rising to his plod' This is a standard routine, he has been farming all of his working life, he is well mint at it.

'I stumbled in his hob-nailed wake' This shows that Seamus does not help his father, he wants to be like him, but cannot keep up with him, as his father will not slow down for him.

'I was a nuisance, tripping, falling,/Yapping always' This means that Seamus would have been annoying to his father, but he did not tell him to go away or lose his temper. Seamus respects his father for this, as he now realizes how hard this would be.

In this poem, the young Heaney is portrayed, in my opinion, to be like an animal, not understanding his father does not really want him to be there, but thinking he is helping.

At the end of the poem, Heaney describes how the positions of him and his father have been reversed, as his father is dead. His father is not physically following him, but Heaney is concerned about the guilt he carries because he has not carried on his heritage of farming, and he cannot live up to his father.