Seamus Heaney- "Digging"

I find this poem striking as Seamus Heaney's whimsically observes/recalls his father and grandfather's working in the garden while at the same time, displaying an acute awareness of his own passivity or inaction (first and last stanza). With the clearly optimistic ending of the poem, he is perhaps suggesting a new movement, or a new generation arising in which poetry can play a role in inspiring people to action, and that as a poet, he doesn't need to get out there and lead a revolution but he can contribute to social change through his words.

I think his choice of subject- "digging"- is rather apt as it is obviously an action, and Heaney uses it as a metaphor for progress, or a productive kind of work with tangible results. The act of digging is a preparation for planting seeds and the genesis of something new so perhaps Heaney is suggesting that in the same way, from his pen will flow poetry that can spread the seeds of change in his generation and the society at large (not sure if I'm going too far with this).