The shift between the third and fourth stanza shows a contrast in Heany’s mental state while he is in bed. His dream (last two stanzas) resemble and reflect his fears. This shows that he did not overcome his fears yet, and that his subconscious cannot over come them either.
“ The Barn” gives a lot of detail about the settings
The floor was mouse-grey, smooth, chilly concrete.
There were no windows, just two narrow shafts
This gives the reader quite a vivid image of the barn, also the description would make you feel like you are in a prison. There are lots of other words used to describe the settings like “ armoury” and “ air slits” the words used draw an image of a cold, dark and depressing place.
Also “ the Barn” describes the boy’s feelings too by lines like “ I lay face-down to shun the fear above” this shows extreme fear. That the boy is very scared and is hiding from his fears, his main fears seem to be the bats and the rats although both of them are images from his imagination. This is shown by the way he describes them, he describes the bats as “ fierce, unblinking” and the rats as “ two great blind rats”
Both poems are written in an autobiographical style this is shown by words like “ I ” and “ my”. This makes them a lot more personal and allow the reader to feel closer to the poet and understand the feeling quickly. They are both written from a child’s perspective although they are written a long time after the incidents happened. This is very important because Heaney recalls them so vividly which shows that they left a scar in his memory. This makes the reader aware of how strong the feelings must be to remain so clearly and for so long.
In Mid-term Break Heaney breaks the stanza pattern this emphasizes the last line, and shows that it is final. The last line which was “ A four foot box, a foot for every year” has as much feeling as the whole poem because it is very expressive. The last line reveals two very sad facts, the first is that the boy is alone in death and second that he is four years. Both of these facts are the final surprise which Heaney was saving for last. Knowing that he is four increases the grief and misery you also feel that it is a loss of innocence. As this boy was only four so what could he have ever done to the world, what did he do to deserve such a sad ending? All these questions were going through Heaney’s imagination. The fact that he is alone reveals some guilt, Heaney is feeling guilty that he did not get a chance to say good-bye, this is shown twice when Heaney says “ I saw him for the first time in six weeks. Paler now,” the second is when he emphasizes the last line. He is feeling that he could not be next to his brother when he needed him most, and now he is leaving him forever.
The Barn’s ending is a totally different style, in midterm break by the end you know more, in the Barn after reading the last line you want to know more to know what happened. One gives you all the information you need and more while the other intrigues you and leaves you to imagine what might happen next.
The Barn has a rhyme scheme which lasts only till the first stanza but then there are more patterns to discover and describe. In the first stanza the last words of the last line rhyme like “ ivory and armoury” “sacks and socks”. I think Heaney stopped using the rhyme pattern because usually poems which rhyme are nursery rhymes which are for little kids, also they rhyming is associated with happiness. He wanted his poems to be understandable to kids but he wanted them to have a deep meaning that he hoped everyone would see and understand. Heaney used the letter C very often in the Barn and in “Midterm Break”, in lines like “ cobwebs clogging” and “ chilly concrete” and “college sick bay counting”. Cobwebs clogging gives an impression of choking. Chilly concrete gives the feeling of how cold and miserable the barn is. The repetition of the letter C in Midterm Break shows impatience.
Also both poems have a very similar syllabic pattern, this makes the poems easier to read and makes the lines flow on to each other. Their syllabic patterns are so similar they range from 9-12 syllabus per line.
Heaney uses some words which show his Irish background, in the way he describes the settings and the places he is in. The words used show that it is a damp place, and words like “musty dark” show that it is very dark and scary but also show that it is very moist and humid. The word “armoury” shows fighting and danger, which increases the fear and tension.
In “Mid-term break” words like “school” shows tension and unease, it is not like being home it also shows some loneliness because he is away from his family. Mentioning “bells knelling” is an association with church service and death. Also bells knelling is assonance, Heaney uses this technique to grab people’s attention, to make the notice the connection between the bells and gives the readers an idea of what might happen next.
One of Seamus Heaney’s main strengths is his ability to create vivid images using similes, metaphors and personification and some more techniques. Heaney uses personification in “ the roof gulfed in” to show how scared he was, gulfing is an action which can only be done by a human. Using a verb like gulfed shows the fear and helps draw an image of the barn. It makes you feel like the walls are closing on him which is very scary.
Heaney uses lots of similes especially in the Barn, these ensure the poet that any reader would understand the meaning of the poem and imagine any image Heaney tries to draw. Similes like “ burned like an oven” and “ two lugged sacks moved in like two blind rats” Heaney uses an oven to show how hot it is, he uses it to describe the vast quantities of heat. Describing the sacks as rats shows that the sack resemble the rats but also the infer that he is scared and afraid of rats.
Heaney uses “poppy” to describe the colour of the bruise on his brother’s “temple” this draws a sad depressing image in your mind and shows the suffering Heaney’s brother has gone through. Poppies also have a distinguished red colour so by using it he implies that the bruise was remarkably bad, and it could have even caused his death.
Heaney uses lots of words to describe the surroundings in the Barn like “farmyard implements, harness, plough socks” and “the floor was mouse grey” all these words help create the image of the place the boy is in and the choice of words is very successful as it is not very simple but it is not very complicated either. So younger readers could read it and understand what it means but older ones won’t think it is a nursery rhyme.
There are also lots of contrasts in both poems like “baby” and “old men” in Mid term break, and “dark” and “sunlit”. These contrasts give a visual effect and make the reader imagine the settings better, although it is harder.
I think that poems are very expressive and have a very deep meaning that has been simplified into words most people can understand which is not easy. Also it needs a lot of mental strength to recall such incidents, and it needs more strength to be able to write about them, especially that they are very hard. It is not easy to write a poem about the loss of a younger brother, especially in this situation as he is killed.
