Mid-term Break
I sat all morning in the college sick bay
Counting bells knelling classes to a close,
At two o'clock our neighbors drove me home.
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.
The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram
When I came in, and I was embarrassed
By old men standing up to shake my hand
And tell me they were "sorry for my trouble,"
Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,
Away at school, as my mother held my hand
In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.
At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived
With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.
Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops
And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him
For the first time in six weeks.
Paler now,Wearing a poppy bruise on the left temple,
He lay in the four foot box as in a cot.
No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.
A four foot box, a foot for every year.
In the poem "Mid-Term Break" by Seamus Heaney, the use of visual images, sound diction, and sporatic structure all helped to create the overall depressed tone of the poem.
Within the poem, I found a lot of sound diction which contributed to the depressed tone of the poem, for example, the "counting bells" which reminded me of funeral bells as opposed to just school bells, which could be considered foreshadowing the death at the end of the poem. However, there was also a contradictory sound diction where "the baby cooed and laughed. . . when I came in" which I think shows that perhaps the speaker does not really understand what is happening as well as he thinks he does. Perhaps he is just as confused of what is going on as the baby is.
There were also many striking images, such as the "corpse, stanched and bandaged" which is a sad and depressing picture. However, I also felt that the image of the "snowdrops and candles soothed the bedside" when he first sees his little brother as possibly being a symbol that he is in a better place, and at least they could take comfort in that.
I also noticed that the poem as a whole had no rhyme scheme or meter, which I took as a symbol for the unpredictability of life. Nothing in life is promised except for death, which I think was demonstrated by the lack of rhyming except in the very last two lines, which were prefect rhymes. I think that shows that you don't know what's going to happen in life, even four year-olds can die, but the only thing you can rely on is that everyone will die, which definately contributed to the depressing mood of the poem.
3 comments:
I agree that this creates an overall tone of depressed, and i also think that the poem doesn't have a specific meter because the speaker is not sure what to think as you said. Because he isn't sure what to make of things, there is no rhyme scheme to show his confusion.
I also think that throughout the entire poem it doesn't show any of how the speaker actually does feel. Heaney leaves it up to the readers to figure that out. I think with the extreme amount of imagery and sound devices, the readers interpret what the speaker would be feeling on their own. I felt sorrow and hurt when reading the poem because an innocent child was left dead and his older brother (the speaker) didn't even know how to react. Heaney leaves the reader to interpret the speakers feelings ourselves. I really like this poem even though it is really depressing and sad...
Laura…I enjoyed your analysis and interpretation of Seamus Heaney’s “Mid-term Break”. I also interpreted the image of “counting bells” as a symbol that foreshadowed the death of Heaney’s younger brother at the end of the poem opposed to the sound of school bells, which would associate more to the title. I also felt that when the innocent “baby cooed and laughed”, the speaker too was unaware of what was going, not knowing how to react. I also took note of the contrast of depressing and painful images like the “corpse, stanched and bandaged” versus the calm and relaxed images like the snowdrops and candles that soothed the bedside. I also liked your analysis of the fact there is no significant rhyme scheme and meter in the poem, which could possibly symbolize the unpredictability in life and the idea that nothing in life is promised except death…that was interesting! One thing I noticed is how the speaker’s feelings and emotions are not really revealed throughout the play as he absorbs the scene and how everyone else is reacting to the situation as his mother “coughed out angry tearless sighs”. We never get a sense of how Heaney really feels about the loss of his brother. What a depressing poem! Overall I think your commentary was well done…!
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