Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave

The speaker’s grave is the most important symbol in the poem, serving as a setting and as the embodiment of the poem’s thematic preoccupations with death and memory. Variations of the phrase “digging on my grave” occur at the opening of each of the poem’s six stanzas (Lines 1, 7, 13, 19, 25, and 31), constantly reminding the reader that this dialogue is taking place in a graveyard and emphasizing that the poem’s speaker is deceased. The grave represents all that is now left of the speaker. Her grave is her last link to the life she once led, and therefore neglecting her grave means neglecting her memory. In discovering that no one is visiting her grave, the speaker learns the extent of her loved ones’ indifference, revealing the fragility of human affection and memory more generally.

The dog’s bone in the poem’s sixth and final stanza is a symbol of the mundaneness and banality of death. When the speaker discovers the identity of her grave’s visitor, she is at first delighted, believing that her dog’s presence proves that animals have purer loyalty than humans do. However, the dog merely wanted to bury a bone for his “daily trot” (Line 34) by the gravesite.