Mid Term Break by Seamus Heaney

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A poem I have studied as part of my Junior Cert course in English is called „The Mid-term Break” by Seamus Heaney. „Mid-term Break” is a first person account of the experience of facing death for the first time. This death is especially tragic, as the dead boy was only four years old. The title has a double meaning. A mid-term break is usually associated with time off school, holidays and fun. This poem’s title suggests a holiday, however, this „break” does not happen for pleasant reasons. The poem starts off with the scene of the poet feeling uneasy, sitting in the college sick bay. He is „counting bells” which suggests the tedium of waiting for the morning to pass. He also uses the word „knelling” instead of „ringing” which suggests funeral bells. In the second stanza, he sees his father „crying”. This is a stark image of a distraught parent. He had usually „taken funerals in his stride” but he was unable to cope with this one, as it was his own child’s funeral. It is a very striking image as it brings out grief and a feeling of pity within the reader. It is also particularly a very sad image as it portrays a topic which not many people are comfortable with. „Hard blow” has a double meaning, it could mean something hard to take, or someone being hit by a car. His baby sister „cooed and laughed”, unaware of what was happening. There is a sense in the poem that the boy has been forced to grow up by what has happened. He is „embarrassed” by the „old men standing up” to shake his hand. As the eldest in the family, he is treated like an adult by the neighbours and is seen as a comfort to the family. Since he does not shed tears like his father, or appear to be as upset as his mother, he emerges to be the strongest character in his family. After waiting hours, the ambulance arrives with the body „stanched and bandaged by the nurses”. T here is an almost peaceful

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