Seamus Heaney's Mid-Term Break

The word “knelling” is an onomatopoeia which shows the idea of funeral bells. “At two o’clock” shows how long he had to wait, where he had lots of time to think. The first stanza does not explain what is the reason for the break was, but his time waiting in the sick bay sets up a feeling that something is wrong. In the second stanza, Heaney meets his father crying “in the porch”, and it is a sense that he was trying to hide his emotions, feelings. The words “he had always taken funerals in his stride” show that death has been experienced before, although not in this way.

In this poem, the writer uses many techniques to express the misery of the situation. The writer uses effective word choice in the first stanza. "I sat all morning in the college sick bay Counting bells knelling classes to a close" Here we can see that the word "all" suggests that Heaney's time waiting seems intermiable which adds to the sadness of the situation. Furthermore the "counting" of the bells advocates that Heaney is bored but also implies that he is desperate to leave school which creates a very tense atmosphere. In addition the word "knelling" ironically suggests... ... middle of paper ... ...his poem and as a result successfully conveyed the sadness and misery of losing a loved one.

Comparison of Mid-Term Break, The Field Mouse, and On My First Sonne The above poems are written by 3 different people and on reading them they seem to be about very different things. But at heart, they are about death and the pain that appears afterwards. Seamus Heaney's Mid-Term Break is a memory of his four-year-old brother's death. Gillian Clarke's The Field Mouse is about death in a political conflict compared to a death in nature. Finally On My First Sonne by Ben Johnson is about the death of his son and the religious view of the situation.

Seamus Heaney describes in the poem of what he did that day when he's younger brother was killed. The stanza begins with the "morning" in line one, but it is two o'clock in line three, showing that hour have passed in waiting. The second stanza begins with the image of Heaney's father "crying". Heaney's father appears to be a strong man of few words, so having him crying causes a powerful emotion in the reader. The effect that his father crying has on Heaney is also written, he says how his father had 'Always taken funerals in his stride' this gives the clear message that this funeral is different, devastating for even the seemingly stronger members of Heaney's family.

The pause after his father is crying gives the reader a taste of what is happening. Then the dash after  funerals in his stride,  gives a pause to really bring about a somber tone. The last line of the third stanza,  And Big Jim Evans saying it was... ... middle of paper ... ...box. The plot is almost fully revealed but there is still the final line,  A four foot box, a foot for every year. All the mysteries are revealed with this last line.

Our suspicions of a death are confirmed in the second stanza, when the narrator describes his father as having "always taken funerals in their stride." In this instance though, the father's tears indicate the passing of someone incredibly close to him - immediate family. The third line, "Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow," tells us that the death is a particularly tragic one, and one that will be difficult to come to terms with. We learn in stanza three that the narrator has a younger sibling and how his or her reactions are in such stark contrast to the solemn reality of the scene. "The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram."

The author has incorporated many elements and style in a subtle and distinct manner. The poem depicts a boy arriving home from school, “moaning in the college sick bay” to hear the news that his four year old brother has been killed in an accident. Upon arriving home, “I met my father crying.” This shows how death can cause much grief and trauma, as well as confusion. Here we can see that the stereotypical roles of the parents have been reversed/exchanged, with the father crying, and the boy’s mother, “Coughed out angry, tearless sighs.” It can be seen/evident, that deaths were quite common, “He had always taken funerals in his stride.” But no-one expected the death to hit quite so close to home… to the heart. And then we see the tables have turned; the parents no longer were the spectators of the funerals, now that their own flesh and blood had been taken away from them.

A stereotypical male would usually hold back his feelings and Heaney uses parenthesis to show this. "In the porch i met my father crying ---He had always taken funerals in his stride--- And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow." Obviously something had caused him great pain, and parenthesis is effective in showing that normally Heaneys father would bottle up his feelings, and be strong for everyone else, taking things in his stride. Meanwhile in the next verse. "The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram" This extract shows that the baby is oblivious to its surroundings and to what is happen... ... middle of paper ... ...ld, and was killed in a road traffic accident... "A four foot box, a foot for every year."

The “[Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone]” speaker is more frustrated and seems to take place at a closer point of the death. Such contrast in expression of dealing with death shows how it brings up different emotions. “My Fathers Song” by Simon J. Ortiz is about a son reminiscing about his memories of his father. There is significance on the pause caused by the imagery described. His memory of his father starts by describing his voice: “…the slight catch, the depth form his thin chest, the tremble of emotion” (Ortiz 3-5).

World War One or “The War To End All Wars” was one of the most devastating events in the history of humankind. When looking back at such a gruesome war it is understandable that we might dwell on the key battles and tactics, which are often summarized by statistics on death tolls. However, we often forget that statistics create an illusion that warps our perception of death. As Stalin put it “One death is a tragedy, a million deaths is just a statistic”. In the novel “The Wars” by Timothy Findley, the author draws away from traditional war stories by showing a true appreciation for life that truly touches the reader on a human and emotional level.