II

This section describes the potatoes once they have been dug up. ‘they lie scattered like inflated pebbles’ describes using a simile the image of large, pebble shaped objects, hard and cool to the touch and of a similar colour.

‘seed shot’ uses alliteration to imply the sound of the potato being cut in half. The alliteration ‘split by the spade’ again uses the ‘s’ sound to show the harsh cutting of the potatoes, those that have opened up show their insides ‘white as cream’ (simile) which makes the insides sound good and pleasing as cream is something used as a treat on desserts.

The good smells and the feel of the ‘humus’ (ground) are further described and the earth’s mother like qualities are developed further with the idea that the potatoes dug up is like ‘a clean birth’, so personification is developed further here.

The potato is good and healthy, promising ‘taste of ground and root’, so reminding those who eat it of where it has come from. There is a less pleasant final image of the earth at the end of this section ‘to be piled in pits; live skulls, blind eyed’ which gives the idea using metaphors of the potatoes being unpleasant, like skulls buried in the ground, but still alive, there is something sinister about this image, which perhaps links in to the next section, which looks at the potato famine of 1845.