Joseph Dempster 11y
How does Seamus Heaney treat the experience of moving
from childhood towards adulthood in his poetry?
Heaney treats growing up in his poetry as an unpleasant and difficult yet necessary an
affair. In his poems he uses a variety of different literacy techniques, which all
suggest sadness, disappointment and loss of hope. I shall be exploring which literacy
techniques and vocabulary he uses in order to achieve these effects, in these poems;
Mid-term Break, an Advancement of Learning and Early Purges.
In the poem Mid-term break one experience of growing up it features is waiting for an
event he may not wish to be at but he feels it’s his duty to attend. In this poem the
event is the funeral of his younger brother. “Counting bells knelling classes to a
close,” The reader can tell that this poem will be a sad one just from this line in the
first stanza because it features the word knelling. This refers to the bells rang slowly
at funerals and other disasters. Another way he makes the clause more effective is the
use of alliteration, “Counting….classes...close” This creates a slower and more
sombre tone and rhythm, indicating once again that this is a sad event.
Another aspect of growing up for Heaney featured in this poem is new experiences.
The new experience for Heaney is seeing his farther cry. “…I met my farther crying-He had always taken funerals in his stride--” The reader can tell this is a new
experience for Heaney because he then writes that his farther “had always taken
funerals in his stride” This is implies to the reader that Heaney was seeing his farther
crying for the first time. The word “met” also suggests to the reader that this is a new
experience to Heaney because to meet someone suggests that you are encountering
them for the first time. No doubt to see your farther crying for the first time would be
unnerving for anyone, but the reader can tell it was sad for Heaney because of the
alliteration “He had…” which gives it a rather disappointed tone.
Also in Mid-term Break Heaney shows coping with the death of family. In this poem
Heaney has to confront the death of his younger brother. “Paler now, Wearing a
poppy bruise on his left temple,” Writes Heaney as he describes the sight of his
brother. The word “Wearing” suggests to the reader that for Heaney it is hard to
believe his brother is really dead and perhaps Heaney hopes it is a guise and unreal.
However the word “poppy” reminds the reader of opium and heroin, two drugs that
have calming properties, this indicates that the sight of Heaney’s brother could have
helped him cope with the death.
In the poem An Advancement of Learning Heaney overcomes his fear of rats.
Although this may have been hard for him, it was necessary. “Something slobbered
curtly, close, Smudging the silence: a rat Slimed out of the water.” Writes Heaney as
he tells the reader that he does not like the presence of the rat. We know this because
of the alliteration: “Something... slobbered…Smudging…silence…Slimed” This
alliteration makes the clauses stretch our longer, and invites the reader to read them
out with a tone of disgust. Heaney’s disapproval of the rat’s presence is enforced by
the juxta-position “Smudging the silence”. The word smudging tells the reader that
the rat is unwelcome, and the fact that it is smudging the silence shows that it is
making Heaney uneasy.
However at the end of them poem Heaney overcomes his fear of the rats “Then I
walked on and across the bridge.” Heaney writes this carelessly as if he hadn’t just
Joseph Dempster 11y
faced his fear. To me this suggests that the rats no longer affect him. The clause
“Then I walked on” suggests that he will continue progressing, overcoming his fears.
And “the bridge” is a metaphor for his fear. He has crossed his fear, which means he
has overcome it. However the reader may interpret the bridge as to do with the
philosophy “One bridge at a time” or “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it”, if
so this to them would mean that he has only taken one step to overcoming his fear,
and there are still many more steps left to take. Although this was a triumph for
Heaney it was still hard for him.
In the poem Early Purges another aspect of growing of for Heaney is change in
opinion. “Suddenly frightened for days … And now, when shrill pups are prodded to
drown I just shrug,” Heaney writes of how his attitudes were when he was young (at
the start of the poem) and how they were when he grew up (at the end). These two
lines are emphasised from the rest of the poem. The first one is because it quicker, and
has a tone of panic. This tone is created by the emphasis when read placed on
“Suddenly”. The later one is emphasised by the alliteration “pups are prodded”, which
makes the sentence longer and more contrasting to the first one.
Throughout these poems Heaney treats growing up as hard and at least for him, a sad
period of his life. He does this by selecting appropriate vocabulary which relates to
other ideals and thoughts. He also uses alliteration and rhythm to slow down and even
speed up sentences to make them sad or angry.