The poem Mid-Term Break is about memories of death from a child’s point of view and the difficulty with other people’s emotions. From my research I have found out that the poem is based upon a real event in Heaney’s life and what he can remember from his own childhood. The difficulties he faced included coping with his own mother’s anger – anger not with her son but with God for letting her child die. Heaney can only be alone in order to mourn along with the ‘snowdrops and candles’. We can come to the conclusion that this may have been the first experience of death of someone close to him.
Similarly, We are Seven is about a young girl who is convincing the reader that her family consists of seven although a few of them are dead. Death links these two poems together along with the sorrow and mixed emotions of losing a loved one who was very close to you in each case a brother and also sisters. It is a genuinely moving piece which is a realisation of the reality of situations happening in the world today - recently the tsunami tragedy in Southern Asia and the ‘War Against Terror.’ The last line emphasises the fact that when someone does die they are not missing from a persons thoughts and feeling.
Mid-Term Break is set out in 7 verses which each contain equally 3 lines. There is also a short line in the end, which delivers an immensely dramatic impact and leaves the reader in suspense. The poem is from the boy’s perspective as he travels thought the mourning period meeting people along the way. The whole family are united in mourning for the young boy who has been killed.
“Counting bells knelling classes to a close.”
The exact meaning of the word knelling is ‘to ring slowly and solemnly, especially for a funeral; toll.’ The use of this word becomes very significant as the theme of the poem surrounds the funeral of a younger brother. As it is set in school, one would imagine the innocence of a school bell-but there are hidden depths when we realise what is further going to happen and the purpose of using the word especially near the beginning. We can also see that the poem is not written in rhyme, which also adds to the event of death and dullness in the atmosphere.
On the other hand, We are Seven is written with a beat and rhyme adding to the purpose of the poem, we can see that when someone is trying to convince, they have a certain beat about their voice which is portrayed in the poem clearly. It is a sort of dialogue between the girl and the reader, which is an effect well used by Wordsworth to involve the reader.
The first thoughts you get when you read the title of Mid-Term Break are of young innocent school children playing and having their whole life ahead of them but the happiness fades away after the first few lines as we become aware of the situation. We are Seven can portray a family bond or a friendship in many ways.
In conclusion, I can say that the two poems link in many ways and are very skillfully written in the way they give impact onto the reader.
