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    Wajjahet Azeemi
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    1) The poem describes the events surrounding the death of the poet Seamus Heaney's younger brother. He recalls sitting in the college sick bay before being told of the tragedy and brought home. 2) At home, he finds his father crying uncontrollably and is overwhelmed by neighbors offering condolences. That night, the ambulance arrives with his brother's body. 3) The next morning, Heaney enters his brother's room and sees his pale corpse in a small coffin, taking in the reality of his brother's death.

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    PMc Mid-term Break

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    1) The poem describes the events surrounding the death of the poet Seamus Heaney's younger brother. He recalls sitting in the college sick bay before being told of the tragedy and brought home. 2) At home, he finds his father crying uncontrollably and is overwhelmed by neighbors offering condolences. That night, the ambulance arrives with his brother's body. 3) The next morning, Heaney enters his brother's room and sees his pale corpse in a small coffin, taking in the reality of his brother's death.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    276 views13 pages

    PMC Mid-Term Break

    Uploaded by

    Wajjahet Azeemi
    1) The poem describes the events surrounding the death of the poet Seamus Heaney's younger brother. He recalls sitting in the college sick bay before being told of the tragedy and brought home. 2) At home, he finds his father crying uncontrollably and is overwhelmed by neighbors offering condolences. That night, the ambulance arrives with his brother's body. 3) The next morning, Heaney enters his brother's room and sees his pale corpse in a small coffin, taking in the reality of his brother's death.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    of 13

    Mid-term Break

    by Seamus Heaney

    Mid-term Break
    by Seamus Heaney

    Think about what the title implies. What will this


    poem be about? And dont say potatoes!
    F

    Context
    In 1951, Seamus Heaney was 12 years of age
    and he went to St. Columbs College in Derry
    where he was a boarding pupil.
    Whilst attending the college, Heaneys younger
    brother Christopher was killed in a road accident
    and this poem involves the poet recalling the
    events that happened to him after this.
    In what sense is the title misleading?
    What effect does this have on the reader when they realise
    what the subject reallyFis?

    A neighbour then
    arrived and took the
    poet home, where it
    becomes clear that
    something
    terrible has
    happened. His father
    was crying and this
    was entirely out of
    character and
    the family friend Jim
    Evans was there.
    Old men greet the
    child and shake his
    hand.
    Then the body
    arrives.

    I sat all morning in the college sick bay


    Counting bells knelling classes to a close,
    At two o'clock our neighbors 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

    The poem begins


    with the narrator
    recalling being a
    child in the college
    sick bay he was not
    ill and had been
    taken there as
    something had
    happened.

    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 the left temple,
    He lay in the four foot box as in a cot.
    No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.
    A four foot box, a foot for every year.

    The poem ends


    with a change of
    scene and time,
    as the child enters
    the room of his
    dead
    brother the next
    morning and he
    attempts to make
    sense of what has
    happened.

    Why is he in sick
    bay?
    Suggests the
    boredom of
    waiting, the
    confused calm
    before the storm
    hard blow has a
    double meaning
    and emphasises
    the nature of the
    scene.
    What are the two
    meanings?

    knelling suggests funereal


    I sat all morning in the college sick bay
    bells rather than a change
    Counting bells knelling classes to a close,
    At two o'clock our neighbors drove me home. of lessons. Fore-shadowing
    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.

    events to come

    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

    Stark image of a
    distraught parent.
    Hes unable to cope
    as at other funerals.
    Why?

    Alliteration stresses the


    feeling of something
    ending

    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,
    Emphasises

    the passage
    of time and contrasts with
    Wearing a poppy bruise on the left temple,
    the slowness with which
    He lay in the four foot box as in a cot.
    No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.the poet experienced it
    A four foot box, a foot for every year.

    The baby doesnt know


    whats happening and
    this is in contrast to
    Heaneys reactions

    Assonance used by
    Heaney. The short a
    sounds could suggest
    the abrupt end to his
    brothers life.
    Heaney doesnt seem
    to see his brother; he
    sees a corpse wrapped
    in the failed attempts to
    save him.

    I sat all morning in the college sick bay


    Counting bells knelling classes to a close,
    At two o'clock our neighbors 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 the left temple,
    He lay in the four foot box as in a cot.
    No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.
    A four foot box, a foot for every year.

    Heaney draws the


    reader through this
    unusual scene.
    Heaney himself is
    embarrassed by
    the attention of the
    old men
    What reaction
    would he have to
    his mothers angry
    tearless sighs

    Change of scene
    from the hectic,
    embarrassing
    business of
    Heaneys return
    home.

    Heaney comes to
    terms with the loss
    and accepts the
    corpse as his
    brother.

    I sat all morning in the college sick bay


    Counting bells knelling classes to a close,
    At two o'clock our neighbors 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.

    They literally sooth


    Heaney and allow
    him to start the
    grieving process.

    The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pramThese images are
    When I came in, and I was embarrassed
    symbolic, both for
    By old men standing up to shake my hand
    the family and the
    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

    reader, of new-life
    and

    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 the left temple,
    He lay in the four foot box as in a cot.
    No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.
    A four foot box, a foot for every year.

    Stark image is left


    hanging at the end of
    the stanza

    The bruise is not a


    part of his brother.
    Heaney sees him as
    metaphorically
    wearing it, as if it
    could be removed

    I sat all morning in the college sick bay


    Counting bells knelling classes to a close,
    At two o'clock our neighbors drove me home.

    Why has Heaney


    chosen a poppy?

    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.

    Think about the


    symbolism associated
    with poppies and think
    The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram
    of it as a visual image
    When I came in, and I was embarrassed
    By old men standing up to shake my hand
    as well
    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

    Contrast between the


    peaceful, clean image
    with that of earlier

    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 the left temple,
    He lay in the four foot box as in a cot.
    No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.
    A four foot box, a foot for every year.

    As a baby might,
    sleeping. Again
    the contrast
    between the hectic
    start and calm end
    is obvious

    Clear factual
    understanding of what
    has happened and
    Heaney doesnt shy
    away from that

    For the first time we


    I sat all morning in the college sick bay
    Counting bells knelling classes to a close,
    learn the childs age
    At two o'clock our neighbors 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.

    as
    Heaney bitterly jokes that
    the coffin is a measure
    for his life

    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

    Final line stands


    alone and draws the
    readers full
    attention.
    Again the poignantly
    humorous reference
    to the coffin as a
    box stresses
    Heaneys childlike
    bitterness

    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 The rhyming couplet
    And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him
    serves to stress the
    For the first time in six weeks. Paler now,
    Wearing a poppy bruise on the left temple,
    He lay in the four foot box as in a cot.
    No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.
    A four foot box, a foot for every year.

    tragedy in the readers


    mind

    Enjambment and
    caesura used
    until the the final
    two stanzas. This
    could suggest the
    confusion of the
    events
    surrounding the
    death and
    Heaneys arrival
    home

    I sat all morning in the college sick bay


    Counting bells knelling classes to a close,
    At two o'clock our neighbors 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.

    This is an incredibly
    personal piece of
    poetry.

    As a reader, what is
    your reaction to
    The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pramreading this poem?
    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.

    Heaney uses
    contrasting images
    and emotions
    throughout this poem.
    Why might this be?

    Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops


    And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him
    End-stopping
    For the first time in six weeks. Paler now,
    Wearing a poppy bruise on the left temple,
    He lay in the four foot box as in a cot.
    No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.
    A four foot box, a foot for every year.

    of the final
    stanza stresses the
    calm, contemplative
    nature of the young
    Heaneys private
    grieving

    Comparisons
    Cold Knap Lake / On the Train Both of these poems
    deal with the idea of loss and the way death or the
    prospect of death can affect people.
    The Field-Mouse / The Man He Killed These poems
    deal with loss and also question the suffering that has
    taken place and its pointlessness.
    On My First Sonne This poem concerns the loss of a
    child and has been written to make sense of what has
    happened more positive than Mid-Term Break.
    Are there any other comparisons you can think of?
    F

    Themes
    Childhood The poem involves the poet recalling an
    event from his own childhood.
    It involves the narrator growing up due to the terrible
    nature of the experience.
    Death / Loss The fact that the poem deals with the
    death of a child, encourages the reader and narrator to
    question the pointlessness of death.
    Focus of the poem is on the reactions of people to death
    and the way people attempt to make sense of the loss.
    Memory Poem recalls an event from the past and this
    links it to other poems in the collection that involve
    looking back in order to see the present and future
    clearly.
    F

    Review
    Note the reactions of the two parents - how does
    the reader react to this?
    With whom, do you think, is the mother angry?
    How does the poem contrast the fuss of the
    homecoming with the calmness of the scene
    when Seamus sees his brother's body?
    What do you think is the meaning of the poem's
    last line?
    What is your reaction to this poem?
    F

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