Mid-Term Break

Mid-Term Break- By Seamus Heaney

 

       Mid-Term Break is one of Heaney's best-known and best-loved poems.  It is my personal favourite poem of all time.  There are so many reasons to love this poem and I hope to highlight some of those today.

       I think that the thing that sticks with you the most from this poem is the pathos imparted by the piece.  You cannot help but feel deep sorrow for the characters, particularly the speaker, for the horrible ordeal that they must go through. They must experiences one of the worst things that could possibly happen to anyone-the death of a close family member, especially when the child was only four years old when they were killled.

       The language in the piece is quite simple, but it is very well chosen.  Also, Heaney uses the objects in the scene to reflect the mood of the text.  For example, when he is describing the child's corpse, he describes the child as being pale and reflects this in the pale, white objects that surround him, 'Snowdrops and candles soothed the bedside; I saw him for the first time in six weeks. Paler now'.

 

       The imagery in the piece is a blur of places and people. I think that this because the speaker can think of nothing but his brother, nothing but the fact that he is dead, nothing but the deep wound that will never fully heal caused by this loss.  I think  this is a very effective way to truly portray the emotions that someone in this situation would feel.

 

       The structure of this poem is interesting because in the last stanza, Heaney has written the last two lines in iambic pentameter. Also, the last two lines have end-rhyme. I think that this creates a beautiful emphasis on the loss suffered by the speaker.

 

       I think that this poem is so realistic and so heart-breaking because Heaney has actually experienced the horrible incident detailed in the poem.  He was and is the speaker, expressing the love and loss he feels for his deceased young brother and I think this really brings reality and emotion to the poem.

 

       Ultimately, I think that that is the essence and beauty of Heaney's work, that he works off his own memories and experiences and transforms them into art.  I believe that Heaney is not only a huge loss to the Irish community, but the global literary community.  Lost, but not forgotten.