Critical Evaluation of Literature of ‘Mid-Term Break’

Critical Evaluation of Literature of ‘Mid-Term Break’

‘Mid-Term Break’ by Seamus Heaney in which the author uses language to create a vivid impression of a childhood memory. The events in the poem are based around the death on Heaney’s younger brother, who died when Heaney was a child. The main events in the poem are when the boy arrives at the house and sees his dad crying. Another main event is when the body arrives and the young boy is refusing to accept that the fact that his brother is dead. Throughout the poem Heaney creates a vivid image, one of the most memorable moments in the poem is at the end, when he is describing the coffin ‘A four foot box, a foot for every year.’ One of the first techniques used in the poem is alliteration. Heaney uses alliteration to describe the bells and the passing of time by saying; ‘Counting bells knelling classes to a close.’ From that line you can tell that the boy has been there for a long time. Another technique used euphemism. Euphemism is included when the old men shake his hand and say ‘they were ‘sorry for my trouble’’. This technique is effective because at funerals people avoid about talking about death directly, and its something people can relate to. Heaney also uses similes in the poem. The effect of which compares a ‘four foot box as in his cot’ makes the reader think of someone dying when they are young. It also allows the reader to picture the scene. The poet also uses a rhyming couplet at the end of the poem, to make the last line more memorable, ‘the bumper knocked him clear. / A four foot box a foot for every year.’ By saying this Heaney emphasis the death of the child and pathos, it also shows how the child died. Heaney also uses really good word choice throughout the poem. In the first stanza Heaney uses the word ‘knelling’ which allows the reader to guess that death is a main theme in the poem. The word ‘corpse’ is also used in the poem, when the body arrives at the house, by using the word ‘corpse’ it shows that the boy is refusing to accept the fact that his brother has died, because ‘corpse’ is not usually used to describe the death of a loved me. Heaney also uses the phrase ‘poppy bruise’ to describe the bruise on the child’s face, as well as being a good word choice, the phrase is also symbolism. It was a good idea to use the phrase ‘poppy bruise’ because poppies are associated with death and the flower itself does have a long life span. One of the main themes in the poem is childhood experiences. This theme is shown when ‘Whispers informed strangers that I was the eldest.’ It shows that even though he is still a child he’s expected to be more grown up because of him and his family losing the child. Another theme is confusion. Confusion is featured a lot in the poem. The time it is included is ‘When I came in, and I was embarrassed / By old men standing up to shake my hand.’ This shows that the boy is not sure how to react to the situation. Another part of the poem that the boy must have been confused is ‘Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest.’ He might have been confused because it’s not the sort of things that happen in a normal day to day situations. The most important theme in the poem is the loss of innocence. To me this theme is revealed at the end of the poem. ‘A four foot box, a foot for every year.’ I think that loss of innocence is evident in that line because he had measured his brothers height by the length of the coffin. The poem I found was very relatable, because everyone loses a loved one at some point in their lives. The part of the poem that I think is the most relatable is when the young boy walks in and how he is confused at the whole situation because I remember feeling like that at my grandpa’s funeral. I would recommend this poem to another reader because it talks about something that everyone can relate to.