“I met my father crying he had always taken funerals in his stride”
This clearly shows that the father, apparently always strong at other funerals, is distraught by his child's death which emphasises how much of a tragedy this death was and how greatly it has affected everyone as even the most unemotional man has been reduced to tears.
“my mother held my hand in hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs”
The poet also explains that the mother is too angry to cry, the words “angry” and “tearless” effectively illustrate this. The mother is not grieving properly as she is too irate to weep and would rather console her children and stay strong as an example to her family. Furthermore, Heaney is made perturbed when he notices the happiness of the baby on seeing him.
“the baby coed and laughed and rocked the pram”
Here we can clearly see that the baby’s behavior is inappropriate for it is a funeral, a time of mourning however the baby is unaware of this which gives off a great sense of innocence .This makes Heaney realise that his brother should not be dead but should be joyful and carefree like the baby. The baby’s laughing also gives us connotations of great innocence as it does not know what is going on which is similar to the way we look at Heaney’s brother . I can really empathise with Heaney as I truly understand what he is going through for I have also lost a family member at a young age who was close to me. If I was in Heaney’s position I would feel extremely miserable and distressed. No word could truthfully describe the pain I would feel if my family were to suffer this way.
Heaney captures the awkwardness of public displays of grief in this poem.
“Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow”
In the poem we notice that the father is accompanied by “Big Jim Evans” who is apparently a family friend. “Big Jim” makes an unfortunate pun by saying the child’s death was a “hard blow” - he means to speak of a metaphorical “blow”, of course but this may have been projected differently in the young mind of Heaney as his little brother was struck by an oncoming vehicle.
“I was embarrassed by old men standing up to shake my hand and tell me they were “sorry for my troubles” whispers informed strangers”
The writer clearly illustrates that when he enters his home, his first emotion is embarrassment as a result of hand shaking from old men who do not really know how Heaney feels or how they themselves should react. The emotion of embarrassment is unusual for a young boy of Heaney’s age to experience at this time for his brother has just died and most people would be depressed and miserable. In addition, in a very hushed atmosphere, Heaney noticed that strangers were whispering about him which must have made him felt very uncomfortable.
“the ambulance arrived with the corpse”
When the day has passed and night falls, the child's body is returned home however, Heaney sees this as a “corpse” and not a person. This therefore proves that Heaney has not come to terms yet with the fact that he has lost his brother forever which emphasises how heartbreaking the situation was. I think that the poet has been very effective here as he has efficiently elucidated how he felt in the company of the people who attended his brother’s funeral. The writer uses an enjambment which has great effect on us. Furthermore the writer uses cold and clinical lexical choice which illustrate that he is not yet come to terms with his brother’s death. The poet uses the word “corpse” which gives us connotations of an object rather than a person- he feels that he is just a body which is very unemotive. This adds pathos to the situation, it illustrates how overwhelmingly sad the situation must have been for Heaney as he feels numb inside; unable to let out his emotions. I feel great sympathy for Heaney here as it is not healthy to bottle up your thoughts and feelings.
As the poem comes to a close, the poet feels a real sense of loss. Heaney finally comes to terms with the situation that has unfolded and realises what has happened
“Snowdrops and candles soothed the bedside; I saw him for the first time in six weeks”
In these final stanzas Heaney is able to grieve honestly for the first time in the poem, for he replaces the word “corpse” with personal pronouns such as “him”, “his” and “he.” This has a very moving effect on me as Heaney is treating his brother like a person rather than a body. The calm mood is beautifully shown in the transferred epithet where the writer uses passionate lexical choice “snowdrops and candles” which gives us connotations of innocence and purity. In addition the word “soothed” has a great effect on me for the reason that a young child is usually soothed but in this case he has passed away. The fact that Christopher was so young when he died increases my sympathy for Heaney as he must have felt distraught knowing that his brother only lived a small fraction of his life. makes me feel much sympathy for Heaney’s family.
“wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple he lay in the four-foot box as in his cot”
Heaney uses flowers as a symbol in the poem which is very effective as they are seen as a symbol of new life, after death. The powerful metaphor of “poppy bruise” is employed to describe the scar of the little boy. The bruise is seen as not really part of the boy - he is “wearing” it as if it could come off. Heaney links the bruise to the poppy as the scar was red and a poppy is a flower linked with death and soothing of pain when opium is extracted. I am really touched in light of this; he uses passionate lexical choices to describe wounds in a soft manner showing that he really loved his brother thus emphasizing how sad the situation must have been for Heaney. When we read the last few lines of the poem, as a result of the writers effective use of language, we get a soft image of a young infant sleeping rather than being dead. This really moved me; Heaney portrayed his younger brother as innocent little child sleeping in his cot thus truly conveying the sad situation at hand. We contrast the ugly “corpse, stanched and bandaged”, which becomes a sleeping child with “no gaudy scars” - dead, but, ironically, not disfigured.
“a four-foot box, a foot for every year”
The last line of the poem is most poignant and skilful - the size of the coffin is the measure of the child's life. This makes the reader feel much sympathy and sadness as it emphasises how young Heaney’s brother was when he died.
“a four-foot box, a foot for every year”
The closing of the poem, in my opinion, is very beautiful and effective; the poet uses beautiful and passionate lexical choice, similes and metaphors to convey deep dark images into soft sweet ones.
During the poem we notice that Heaney’s development of grief improves dramatically.
For most of the poem Heaney describes the funeral as it were a report; he uses specific times, clinical terms and unemotive language however when Heaney is finally alone with his brother he starts to grip reality and portray his brother as a person rather than just a body. Heaney then narrates the poem with emotive language, personal pronouns and less specific times…he writes naturally.
I believe that Heaney employed many effective techniques in this poem and as a result successfully conveyed the sadness and misery of losing a loved one. I particularly was moved when he used a simile to describe his brother as sleeping rather than dead; it portrayed his brother as an innocent little boy. Moreover, when he created a soft image of a hideous scar I was touched as he obviously loved his brother to a great extent. I sympathise with Heaney to a great length as it is a tragic loss to lose a family member especially if it is someone you are exceptionally close to like a brother or sister. This poem has revealed to me the true significance of life and also the unimaginable pain of death. This poem has made me realise that you do not properly appreciate something until it is gone. In light of this I have learned that you should always respect and treat one another well as you never know when their time will come!
“Mid-Term Break Critical Evaluation”
Darren Parker 15/12/05
Word Count = 1847
