Mid_Term_Break

Poetry Death is going to happen everyone it is inventible, some believe that in after life other believe that you are left to rest in peace, it can happen to anyone at anytime or place. The first poem we looked at was mid term break by Seamus Heaney it was about his younger brother tragically killed in a car accident, he uses colloquial language so it appeals to everyone, having analyzed the title it seems its going to be a happy holiday but doesn’t happen for pleasant reasons, the poem is in first person narrative which mean we will be hearing his feelings and thoughts. In the first stanza I refers to a personal experience, he has been sitting in the college sick bay all morning which implies he is sick, Heaney says all morning which makes us think he is bored Heaney uses alliteration on the letter ‘C’ which makes us refer to a clock ticking. The word ‘knelling’ is a sound of a bell but not for changing classes it is used at sad occasions such as funerals, at 2’o’ clock Heaney’s neighbours picked him up were his parents busy' Or maybe didn’t have a car. In the second stanza he had met his father crying on the porch which was a role reversal as it is normally the women that cry, the two small dashes are to make us think and decide are own conclusion. Heaney still remembers ‘Big Jim Evans’ and the way he said ‘it was a hard blow’ this is an unfortunate pun as it is literal and a metaphor. When Heaney into the room he was embarrassed by the baby as it ‘cooed and laughed’ as it was oblivious to the situation, Heaney was further embarrassed by old men standing up and shaking his hand this is a role reversal as young people usually shake there elders hands. Heaneys mother coughed out ‘angry tearless sighs’ we wonder why she is not crying maybe she is in shock or has already cried enough and is all cried out. Im sorry for your trouble is a use of euphemism as it replace a harsh word with a more pleasant one. Heaney remembers the exact time the ambulance came at 10’o’clock as it was a big moment in his life Heaney remembers his brother ’stanched and bandaged’ he refers to it as a corpse now as it is no longer his brother just a cold body. Heaney only went up to the room were the corpse lay the next day we wonder why maybe he couldn’t face it or his mother told him to wait. As he walked into the room ’snowdrops and candles’ made him feel relaxed and calm the snowdrops reflect on the purity of the baby and snowdrops come in spring which makes us feel he was only in the spring of his life. Heaney says he seemed as if he was wearing a poppy on his left temple, the bruise might have been in the shape of a poppy with a bit of dry blood in the centre and a poppy flower is a symbol of remembrance. Heaney mentions ‘he lay in a four foot box as in his cot’ this implies he looks peaceful like he use to in his cot. Heaney says that ‘he lay in a four foot box a foot for every year’ this shocks the reader as we find out he was only four. There is only one sentence that rhymes called a rhyming couplet this is to draw up our own conclusions and make us think. Heaneys message is to enjoy life while we can it can happen at anytime any age live life while we can and don’t morn for others. On to our next poem ’out out’ this was wrote by an American poet called Robert Frost the title ’out out’ is taken from the play that Shakespeare done called out out brief candle about his wife committing suicide. At the start of the stanza Frost almost creates a romantic scene as he tells us about ‘sweet scented stuff’ and ‘five mountain ranges’ we are lead to believe it is near the and of the day as he tells us of a ‘sunset far into Vermont’ Frost uses repetition ‘snarled and rattled snarled and rattled’ snarl makes us think of a dog baring its teeth and rattled makes us think of a unsafe roller coaster going up a scary hill. This creates an ominous tone as we think something bad is going to happen. ‘Call it a day I wish they might have said’ this makes us believe that they are regretting not finishing earlier. Frosts sister came out and shouted ’supper’ and just then as if the saw knew what supper was it metaphorically leaped out at the boys hand, this is a religious statement as it is like the last supper Jesus had before getting crucified, Frost also use an ambiguous statement as he says ‘given the hand’. The boys first reaction was a ‘rueful laugh’ this is a oxymoron, this tells he didn’t know how serious the situation was or maybe he was in shock, he has holding up his hand to look for assistant but also to stop the blood from flowing out, Frost uses enjambment as the sentence flows on like the boys blood was flowing. At that point the finally realises how serious the situation is as he is a big boy doing a man work. At this point there are short sentences to reflect on the boys heart beat ‘little-less-nothing’ this is were we find out that the boy has passed away. ‘the doctors turn to there affairs’ some people think this is selfish and cold hearted but they are just doing there jobs, at the start of the poem it tells us about ‘sunset far into Vermont’ this is also near to the boys death. Frosts message is to get on with life and people have to move on not morn for others. This poem doesn’t have a rhyme scheme as it would not be necessary as it is a upsetting and sad poem. From studying the two poems I learnt that I have to get on with life and enjoy it as it can be taken away when you least expect it. The two poems are similar are about death however ‘Mid Term Break’ has stanzas and it is past tense and ‘Out Out’ has no stanzas and it is talking about the death as it occurs.