Mid Term Break by Seamus Heaney
Read this short poem by Nobel Prize winning Irish poet, Seamus Heaney.
There follows an exercise on how to use the SQA (STATEMENT, QUOTATION,
ANALYSIS) system for writing critical essays about a text.
Mid Term Break
I sat all morning in the college sick bay
Counting bells knelling classes to a close.
At two o’clock our neighbours drove me home.
In the porch I met my father crying –
He had always taken funerals in his stride –
And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.
The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram
When I came in, and I was embarrassed
By old men standing up to shake my hand
And tell me they were “sorry for my trouble”.
Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,
Away at school, as my mother held my hand
In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.
At ten o’clock the ambulance arrived
With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.
Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops
And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him
For the first time in six weeks. Paler now,
Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple,
He lay in the four foot box as in his cot.
No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.
A four foot box, a foot for every year.
Here are some statements that you might make about this poem if you were
writing a critical essay on it.
•
The poet has been away from home at a boarding school.
•
The poet has been kept out of classes on this particular day but
is not ill so there must be another reason for this.
•
We deduce from various clues that there has been a death in the
poet’s family.
(Be sure you know what knell / knelling means)
.
The poet’s father is not coping as well as he usually does with
funerals.
•
•
The baby is behaving as a baby normally behaves.
•
There are lots of people in the poet’s house when he arrives
home.
(How do they react to the poet’s arrival home?)
•
The poet’s mother, in contrast to his father, is not crying at
this point.
(What could be the reasons for this?)
•
Towards the end of the poem, we realise that the person who
has died is the poet’s four year old brother.
(How does the structure of the poem help to convey this
information to us?)
•
The little boy has been killed in a car accident.
•
The flowers chosen for the bedroom where the dead boy is lying
are very appropriate.
•
Seamus Heaney uses a vivid image to describe the dead child’s
injury.
For each statement, find one (or two) quotations from the poem to
support the statement. Go on to explain in as much detail as you can
how the quotations support the statements made about the poem. (This
can be done as a group exercise, or individually.) Name and explain any
techniques or figures of speech, such as simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia,
etc.
Mid Term Break
I sat all morning in the college sick bay
Counting bells knelling classes to a close.
At two o’clock our neighbours drove me home.
In the porch I met my father crying –
He had always taken funerals in his stride –
And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.
The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram
When I came in, and I was embarrassed
By old men standing up to shake my hand
And tell me they were “sorry for my trouble”.
Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,
Away at school, as my mother held my hand
In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.
At ten o’clock the ambulance arrived
With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.
Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops
And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him
For the first time in six weeks. Paler now,
Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple,
He lay in the four foot box as in his cot.
No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.
A four foot box, a foot for every year.
Themes: death, bereavement, grief – and how different individuals cope with it.
Structure: 7 three line (terza rima) stanzas followed by a single line 8th stanza which has shocking impact
via being brief, blunt, and revealing for first time in the poem, via alliteration of ‘f’ sound, just how young and small the victim was.
Comment [ES1]: Ambiguous
title: usually pleasant
connotations of holiday from
school but ironic title when
reason for poet coming home
revealed. Also idea of broken
little brother after fatal
accident.
Comment [ES2]: Kept out of
classes – first thought is
whether due to illness?
Comment [ES3]: Hint in
“knelling”, usually word
reserved for church bell being
rung for funeral, that poet out
of classes due to someone’s
death.
Comment [ES4]: Alliteration
of “c” and assonance in “bells”
... [1]
and “knelling” - repeated
Comment [ES5]: Parents... [2]
unable to come – must be death
Comment [ES6]: If father... [3]
normally copes with funerals
Comment [ES7]: Ambiguous
... [4]
phrase: difficult emotional blow
Comment [ES8]: Contrasts
... [5]
with father’s crying – baby too
Comment [ES9]: Poet feels
... [6]
awkward at people offering
Comment [ES10]: Whispers
... [7]
personified; confirm poet has
Comment [ES11]: Could...be[8]
“tearless” because mother has
Comment [ES12]: Body ... [9]
brought home for funeral,
Comment [ES13]: Appropria
... [10]
te flowers: drooping heads
Comment [ES14]: Soft ...
light,
[11]
helps ease experience of
Comment [ES15]: Delicate
... [12]
flowers and soft candlelight
Comment [ES16]: Poet...
has
[13]
been away at boarding school
Comment [ES17]: Due...
to [14]
circulation of blood ceasing
Comment [ES18]: Metaphor
... [15]
indicating shape - like petals;
Comment [ES19]: Looked,
in
... [16]
coffin, just as if sleeping in cot.
Comment [ES20]: No other
... [17]
dramatic, visible injuries.
Comment [ES21]: Tells...us[18]
"bumper" - cause of death was
Comment [ES22]: Solitary
... [19]
last line with alliteration to
Page 2: [1] Comment [ES4]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:00:00
Alliteration of “c” and assonance in “bells” and “knelling” - repeated sounds suggests
repeatedly ringing bell.
Page 2: [2] Comment [ES5]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:02:00
Parents unable to come – must be death in family.
Page 2: [3] Comment [ES6]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:03:00
If father normally copes with funerals but crying now, suggests death is someone close in
family.
Page 2: [4] Comment [ES7]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:04:00
Ambiguous phrase: difficult emotional blow to family and actual physical impact of vehicle
hitting child.
Page 2: [5] Comment [ES8]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:05:00
Contrasts with father’s crying – baby too young to understand what has happened.
Page 2: [6] Comment [ES9]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:06:00
Poet feels awkward at people offering condolences.
Page 2: [7] Comment [ES10]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:06:00
Whispers personified; confirm poet has been at boarding school.
Page 2: [8] Comment [ES11]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:09:00
Could be “tearless” because mother has cried so much already or else in state of shock impact of situation still to hit her and provoke first tears. Angry with self for not supervising
child better and/or angry with driver who killed her child.
Page 2: [9] Comment [ES12]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:10:00
Body brought home for funeral, bleeding stopped.
Page 2: [10] Comment [ES13]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:11:00
Appropriate flowers: drooping heads suggest sadness; small, white flowers like small, pale bloodless in death - child.
Page 2: [11] Comment [ES14]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:17:00
Soft light, helps ease experience of viewing dead child - not harsh glare that would show up
injuries. Also candles traditionally lit for religious reasons when death occurs.
Page 2: [12] Comment [ES15]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:18:00
Delicate flowers and soft candlelight make it less harsh for family to look at dead boy.
Page 2: [13] Comment [ES16]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:19:00
Poet has been away at boarding school for this length of time.
Page 2: [14] Comment [ES17]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:19:00
Due to circulation of blood ceasing after death.
Page 2: [15] Comment [ES18]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:20:00
Metaphor indicating shape - like petals; colour - red with dark centre, like poppy.
Page 2: [16] Comment [ES19]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:21:00
Looked, in coffin, just as if sleeping in cot.
Page 2: [17] Comment [ES20]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:21:00
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:22:00
No other dramatic, visible injuries.
Page 2: [18] Comment [ES21]
Tells us - "bumper" - cause of death was from being knocked down by car/vehicle.
Page 2: [19] Comment [ES22]
Education Service
16/12/2010 16:23:00
Solitary last line with alliteration to emphasise tragedy of coffin being so small as child only
four years old - shock at end of poem - tragic loss of life at so young a stage.