Comparing Seamus Heaney Poems Follower, Mid-term Break, and Digging

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Recommended: Childhood on poetry

In this essay I will be comparing three Seamus Heaney poems we looked at in class these are called, “Follower”, “Mid-term Break” and, “Digging”.

There are differences as well as similarities, the similarities include: they are all poems about and set in Seamus’ childhood memories

In addition, all the poems more or less use some of the same poetic devices and techniques like: onomatopoeia and some of the same characters appear in all three poems such as like: Seamus (himself obviously) and his father.

The differences include the fact, “Mid-term break” which is more emotional in my personal opinion.

And is about a completely different situation then, “Follower” and, “Digging”, which are set on the farm Seamus lives on and is about him watching his father while he works on the farm and how Seamus feels about him.

While the overall situation in, “Mid-term break,” is that Seamus’ four-year-old brother has died. He is taken out of the Collage, “Sickbay” or first aid room where he is waiting to be taken to his little brothers funeral by his next door neighbours they are picking him up for two possible reasons:

A) There is no mention of Seamus’ family having a car.

B) Even if Seamus’ family had a car the farther would not be fit to drive because Seamus sees his dad on the Porch crying because of his lost of a son if he was to drive he would be thinking about his son instead of the road ahead and behind him and might end up being buried with his son and the last thing the family needs is another death but more accurately it is the last thing the wife needs because she would have lost not just her four year old son but also her husband as well, leaving her with only Seamus and herself.

The first Seamus Heaney poem I...

... middle of paper ...

...hing is different and that includes pieces of literacy work any type of literacy work, from letters to novels any two or three types of literacy work are not the same even if they are all poems or all letters they are all different (unless you copy it word for word) a there are accidental similarities and similarities that have been created on purpose.

In conclusion, I have found many things. Like the different topics need different structures and rhyming schemes to enforce their point.

I noticed also that different techniques and devices he used help me visualise in my mind what he describes in his poems and how he saw things in his life. Comparing his work has helped me understand other poems too.

Personally, I found Seamus Heaney’s poems interesting as they gave a child’s perspective of his life and the events coinciding with it. Not many poems do this.

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