Heaney uses symbolism to represent how he doesn't physically dig and follow in the footsteps of his father but he 'digs' with his pen."But i've no spade to follow men like them" he states and then goes on to say "the squat pen rests. I dig with it." He is following in his elders footsteps by 'digging' into poetry with the pen that rests in his hand, snug as a gun.