Follower Admiration Quotes

The son compares the size of his dad's working shoulders to a sail full of wind. We're pretty sure even Andre the Giant's shoulders aren't even that big. He admires him so much that he thinks he's larger than life. Also check out the assonance in these lines with "shoulders" and "globed." It gets our ear's attention, just like the dad got the son's attention.

Not only is his dad strong, but he's so good at what he does. He's not your average farmer, people; he's an expert. Now don't get it twisted.

The father's delicate touch with the plow is not lost on the super-attentive son. The father is not only super-strong, but super-skilled, too. Heaney does a lot of work to establish the strength and skill of the father, especially at the beginning of the poem. Rather than just state, "My dad's the baddest in the biz," Heaney shows a whole slew of actual examples that illustrate his strength and skill.

These lines show how much the father's team of horses respected him. We mean, if these horses could salute, they would. (And then the father wouldn't have to farm anymore. He could hit the road with his team of amazing saluting horses.) The point here is that, not only does the son admire the strength and skill of his dad, but he also admires how he commands respect (from his team of horses, and definitely from his son).

Even though it's difficult to keep up with his dad, the son enjoys watching him work so much that he does his best to follow closely behind, even if that means tripping through the mud after him. We're into the thirteenth line of the poem and the speaker's still going on about how awesome his dad was as a farmer and how much he admired him. Get his autograph already—sheesh.

This line shows that the father is aware of how the son admires him, and he's giving him a little love in return. Future stars out there: it's important to show your number one fan some love.

In other words, the speaker wanted to be just like his dad. Not only does he want to have the same profession, but he wants to do it just like him: "To close one eye, stiffen my arm." He admires how well he plows, and wants the same future for himself. It's just kind of a bummer that he inherited none of his skills. Harsh.

"Follow" is the magic word in this poem. The son wants to literally and figuratively follow in his father's footsteps. The "broad shadow" gives the same feeling as "full sail": his dad seems larger than life. It's hard for the little guy to keep up, but he gets an A for effort (or is that an E?).