Abstract

This paper attempts to explore the concept behind the poem “Mid-term Break” written by Seamus Heaney. The main focus of this paper is to understand the poem and analyze it on a line-to-line basis. The paper describes the core idea of the poem and attempts to relate it to an individual's life.

Mid-Term Break

Introduction

Mid-term Break at first glance, seems to be simple and a straight forward poem. The way the poem starts, gives the reader an impression that it is a child-like poem lacking emotions and feelings. However, as you continue reading, Heaney's various used techniques and elements make you think otherwise.

Heaney uses a handful of effective techniques, which are cleverly written, making his poem extremely emotional. Despite being no rhyme in the poem, it flows along extremely well from one stanza to another. The poem is very onomatopoetic in the way it expresses emotions like “cooed”, “coughed”, “whisper” and “knocked”. These words give the poem a definite and discrete sound. The theme and tone throughout the poem, being extremely simple in expression, yet does not overlook any possible detail that has to be given. ("Seamus Heaney 70th birthday commemorative Irish Times supplement")

Discussion and Analysis

A poem is mostly written with a story or an event in mind. Similarly, the story in Mid-Term Break revolves around a young boy who just returned from a boarding school and has lost his brother. The death of his brother resulted in a completely different emotional response by his family members.

In his poem, Seamus Heaney uses personification, a figure of speech in which humanistic characteristics are attributed to an abstract quality, intimate object or an animal.

The poem is organized in a three lines stanza, just like a poem that does not rhyme with the exception of the last line. This format of poem emphasizes on the last line making it stand out more to the reader. The last word of the last line rhymes with the stanza before. Heaney wanted to display the importance of the last line with only one though in mind, “poems are not read but heard”. (Heaney, 1999)

“I sat all morning in the college sick bayCounting bells knelling classes to a close.At two o'clock our neighbours drove me home.”

The first stanza portrays nothing about the reason for the break, but only telling the reason for Heaney's wait in the sick bay. Noticeable thing is that Heaney used “knelling” instead of “tolling” for the school bell has connotation of death. It only speaks about the fact that something is wrong. (Heaney, 1999)

“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.”

In the second stanza the intensity of the devastation caused by the incident is uncovered. Heaney's family is very blue with his father crying even though he had gone through many funerals. The impact of this tragic accident shook the whole family. (Heaney, 1999)

“The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pramWhen I came in, and I was embarrassedBy old ...