Mid-term Break
I sat all morning in the college sick bayCounting 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 pramWhen I came in, and I was embarrassedBy old men standing up to shake my handAnd tell me they were "sorry for my trouble,"Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,Away at school, as my mother held my handIn hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.At ten o'clock the ambulance arrivedWith the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.Next morning I went up into the room. SnowdropsAnd candles soothed the bedside; I saw himFor 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.
COMMENTARY
In "Mid-Term Break" by Seamus Heaney, he uses sense 0f time and enjambment to emphasize how long the speaker's mourning of his brother's death felt. The brother spoken of in the powem can be seen as a metaphor for the dispute between Ireland and Britain. This is due to the fact that although Heaney is from Ireland, he felt that Britain and Ireland should work together as "brothers" in a sense. However, since the issues came to being, Seamus Heaney felt the separation between Ireland and Britain, which caused depression in Ireland. In other words, the death of his brother and the speaker's loss can be a metaphor for how Britain is lost to Ireland and Ireland is left with grief and violence.
Time is used in this poem to show how the speaker is depressed and empty due to the grief caused by his brother's death. The way that the speaker uses time, it shows how time just seems to go by without his brother around, because he feels empty, yet he can still remember little details from his brother's death and funeral as if it were just yesterday. "At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived" and "I saw him for the first time in six weeks". (loss of time? as in, he lost track of time due to the fact that it seems like they just go by without his brother)
Enjambment is used throughout this poem to also emphasize the emptiness and sadness that the speaker feels during the mourning of his brother's death. This is shown because as soon as he begins to re-tell his story of his brother's funeral/wake is taking place. This is because he is grieving and life just seems to pass him by without his brother.
In "Mid-Term Break" by Seamus Heaney, the speaker's situation can also be linked to Heaney's real life in another way other than in regards to the relationship between Ireland and Britain. Seamus Heaney's four year old brother actually died while he was off at college, which can clearly explain his inspiration to write "Mid-Term Break".
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6 comments:
The connection to the British and Irish fighting was a suprising one that I didn't notice at first,however, is it possible that this poem is just about his brother and not the war? Yes they were like brothers but I think the emphasis that Heaney puts on time,college, and himself suggests that this is personal and not a national issue.Everything in this poem seems to scream first-person narritive to me unlike in "Blackberry picking" where there were references to a group and few references to the speaker.
Wow! I honestly never thought of the death being a metaphor. My first impression is basically like J'mag's. But if the brother's death is a metaphor for the conflict, could the dead brother represent Ireland and Britain was the car that ran him down? I think it would make sense either way, but I do still lean towards the idea that this is a more personal poem. Also, I got the impression that time seemed slower, rather than faster, after the brother died. Interesante.
In accordance to what Claire and J'mag have said, I believe your point that the poem is a metaphor for the Irish-British Conflict is a very interesting one. But I also must say that while that may be true, I also believe that it's personal- as you said, his brother did die when he was at college, so this isn't really about Ireland or Britain (and the poem says it was a car accident I believe). In any case, I also noticed the emotional detachment of the speaker, but I don't believe it is with time. I rather believe it is because of diction (and those six weeks are just six weeks since a last visit or something). I think the enjambment shows emptiness as well, and possibly breaks in thought, as the speaker is trying to be emotionally strong and not feel the loss. At any rate, good job.
EXCELLENT discussion going here!
This is so cool! I like the way you have interpreted the poem and used the histtorical context and background info of the author! I also like how u use time and the idea of emjambment to unite the entire theme of the poem. Very interesting...
I really like your interpretation of this poem. I hadn't really thought to compare it to the British and Irish but I like that metaphor because it makes the poem seem less sad then when it is about a 4 year old little boy. I wonder why the boy would be four in that case though?
I also wanted to comment on how you thought of him as being in a grieving state. I agree. However a lot of people in my class pointed out that he also suggests distance between himself and his brother mentioning how long they have been apart and putting "sorry for my troubles" in quotes. This all suggests maybe he wasnt that sad about the whole thing.
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