Answer may vary some. The extended metaphor of "digging" continues throughout the poem. The act of digging done by this father and grandfather is compared to the speakers metaphorical "digging" up of the past. What the speaker unearths is a vision not only of his own life, but of his father's grandfather's and forebears'. The poem ends with the speakerS desire to continue digging up the past and writing about it, a task that, in the case of this particular poet goes all the way back to Beowulf.
