Seamus Heaney Poetry

“Mid term break” was written by Seamus Heaney, an Irish poet who lived together with nine siblings. Many of his works are about everyday life, a testimony to his profound observations of even the smallest things. This poem, “Mid term break”, was a reflection of his brother, Christopher’s death. Although it is entitled “Mid Term Break”, the poem is far from cheerful. The ideas of death, trauma, grief and despair are explored here. The tone of the poem is somber and solemn. The narrator may seem a little detached as well. He does not show any outward sign that he is grieving too much over the death of his brother, but traces of his sadness could be seen in the times when he recalls memories of his brother, “the baby cooed and rocked the pram” and “lay in the four foot box as in his cot”. Heaney delivered the poem shrouded in mystery. His introduction in the first stanza does not give the audience a clue about what would happen next. It had a relaxed, happy tone, and gives us the impression that he had all the time in the world to spare. This was shown by the act of “Counting bells knelling classes to a close”, making the first stanza seem to last a long time. These words supports the previous line, “waited all morning”. Also, the allusion to “classes” and “college sick bay” suggests that the narrator was still slightly naïve and youthful at the time. When the “neighbors drove” him home, the sense of mystery begins to build up.
Upon arriving at his home, he “met his father crying”. Here, the ideas of grief, trauma and the resulting disorientation are explored. A father represents a strong pillar within the family, but here, the poet showed how much the shock of the death of a close family member could cause even the strongest pillar to collapse. His father had “always taken funerals in his stride”, and could show that deaths were quite common, however, they had never expected it to hit so close to them. The mention of a “hard blow” had both a physical and emotional