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A Comparison of Midterm Break and The Early Purges Essay

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A Comparison of Midterm Break and The Early Purges

For this assignment we have studied two poems by Seamus Heaney. Both of these poems are linked because they are about Heaney’s early memories of death and how he coped with these difficult situations when he was a young.

The subject matter of the poem ‘Midterm Break’ is about his brother’s death. It also tells us about his feelings about this death. Heaney is away at boarding school. Waiting in the college sick bay. Heaney writes ‘At two ‘o’ clock our neighbours drove me home’. Which shows that his parents were unable to come to pick him up as they might have been held up with something.

Heaney wanted to express his feelings, to let us know what he felt like having to …show more content…

Heaney only begins to feel comfort the next morning, when he goes to see his brother in his room. Heaney writes ‘snow drops and candles soothed the bed side’, as in his cot’- as if he is asleep in his cot.

The poem is set out in three line stanzas apart from the last line, which is on its own. The last line stands out from the rest of the poem. The first time you are aware of the boy’s age is on the last line where Heaney writes:

“A four foot box, a foot for every year”

This tells us that the boy was only four years old. The parents must be really upset to see their youngest son lying dead in front of them.

The title ‘Midterm Break sounds as if it is about a holiday. However it is about the funeral of Heaney’s little brother. At first Heaney describes his brother as a ‘corpse’, which is a cold unfeeling description of his brother. The boy is referred to as ‘it’ not ‘him’ which is unfeeling and is also cold. In the next verse the boy is referred to as a human again. Heaney says ‘ I saw him, for the first time in six weeks’. We have an impression that he is finally feeling some comfort when he writes ‘snowdrops and candles soothed the bed side’. In the sixth stanza snowdrops can be seen as a symbol of his brother who is like a tiny delicate flower. Or it could be a symbol of life and hope after a winter. Heaney uses is personification when he talks about the bruise shaped like a poppy. Poppies are used to remember people that

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