Unseen analysis: mid-term break Wednesday, 14 November 2018

Mid term break Mid-Term Break Start with the title… 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 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. Seamus Heaney Start with the title… A mid term break is a holiday. It is usually happy. What else can “break” connote?

1st person narration swiftly established The “knell” is the funeral bell. He is in the sick bay… what sense is generated here – note alliterative C to mimic the bells Ideas to play with 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. Unusual – raises questions Parenthetic clause suggests the setting of the poem What was? Show don’t tell

Look at the contrasts here of sound and age. Why are there no names? Twice the enjambment spans stanzas. Why do you think this is? 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. What emotion is Heaney feeling ? Look at the language choice. Why is “coughed out” such a powerful description of weeping?

No nonsense description – informs us of an event but gives no details. At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses. Implies trauma Blunt . Seems objective and dispassionate

Next morning I went up into the room 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, A shortened line to emphasise the purity of the image? Candles are suggestive of church and the verb is soft The sentences do not match the lines of the poem – emotion is intruding. Last word of the line… who??

Think of the connotations of this metaphor Seems very small… Think of the connotations of this metaphor 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. …The first real clue Why this word? Car accident A line of perfect balance and understatement catching the control and the inability to put the high emotion into words. We have to visualise it!