Read the poem given below and answer the questions (100 - 105) that follow :
Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests: snug as a gun.
Under my window, a clean rasping sound
When the spade sings into gravelly ground.
My father, digging, I look down
Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds
Bends low, comes up twenty years away
Stooping in rhythm through potato drills,
Where he was digging
The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft
Against the inside knee was levered firmly.
He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep.
To scatter new potatoes that we picked,
Loving their cool hardness in our hands.

In the second stanza, the poet is observing :

Correct Answer: his father digging potatoes

Step-by-Step Explanation:

1. Understanding the Stanza Structure:
Let us examine the second stanza of Seamus Heaney's poem "Digging":

"My father, digging, I look down
Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds
Bends low, comes up twenty years away
Stooping in rhythm through potato drills,
Where he was digging"

2. Analyzing the Details:
- The speaker looks down from his window and observes "My father, digging...".
- The action described specifically details the father stooping and working "through potato drills, / Where he was digging".
- The memory transitions from the immediate flowerbeds to watching his father dig through the potato fields (drills).

3. Conclusion:
Therefore, in the second stanza, the poet is directly observing his father digging potatoes.