Mid Term Break Poetry Analysi

The poem ‘Mid- Term Break’ describes the phenomenal loss that a family is suffering from the death of a child and brother. It is written from a young boy’s perspective as it continues to inform the audience of the grieve suffering that the family is currently enduring. It focuses on the feelings of the family and the funeral being the first time that the young boy has seen his brother since a car accident.
The structure of the poem ‘Mid-Term Break’ positions its audiences in a specific way throughout the use of structure. The following poem includes 8 stanzas each 3 sentences long. However, towards the end of the poem standing alone is the last stanza, it includes only 1 sentence. This was separated from the rest of the text to emphasize the ending of the poem as it is possibly the most important line. It reinforces the devastation of the event that has occurred whilst highlighting the impact that the death has had on the family. Additionally, each stanza has only 2 sentence most. This allows the author to move time quickly. This is important within the poem as it often changes scenery quite quickly and due to the stanza’s being short, this allows the author to do so. It is clear that the poem has a slight lack of punctuation as the sentence structure is incorrect. Each doesn’t end with a full stop although, starts with a capital letter. This demonstrates that the boy may not have learnt much punctuation whilst at the same time gives its audience an insight into the young age of the boy. The overall tone of the poem is sombre and depressing. Although we are soothed throughout mid way of the poem through Heaney’s use of language, the majority of the poem is filled with deep sadness due to the life of the infant that is cut short. Moreover, the title of the poem is slightly confusing as it suggests a ‘break’ meaning holidays or happiness however; reading the poem it contradicts in the fact that this ‘break’ was not filled with happiness or joy. Throughout the