In this essay I am going to compare and contrast two poems. One is ‘The Day The Lady Died’ by Frank O’ Hara and ‘Mid – Term Break’ by Seamus Heaney. Frank O ‘Hara was an American intellectual who wrote poems about understanding living and how to cope when a famous icon has a tragic death. He was used to the fast paced city life of New York. Where as Seamus Heaney was born in Ireland and he was used to the quite country life of the farming family. He attended St. Columb’s College in Derry where he was a border. Heaney went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Both poems deal with the grief of death in two different manners but with two different types of death. A public death and a personal death. I will be writing about the grief felt by both poets in the face of death and their reaction to the news.
I will begin my analysis by exploring ‘The day the lady died’ by Frank O’Hara. The poems name shows that a memorable occasion has taken place. When you first look at the poems name you think it’s about any lady but Billy holidays nickname was the lady. She was named the lady because she was a cultural icon. She represented jazz, a certain type of sophistication and everything that was exciting about New York. Frank O'Hara talks about Billy Holiday as if he had some kind of link with her by the way he talks about her, like she's a close relative or friend.
This poem starts in the everyday busy life of New York. As Frank O’Hara wakes up normally like every other day he deals with how he felt alienated in the crowded streets of New York. As he says “I don't know the people who will feed me”. This shows how anonymous the people of New York are. O'Hara goes on with his everyday routine and does things that tell us that he is a modern intellectual New