Heaney starts the poem with being at school waiting to be picked up:
“I sat all morning in the college sick bay
Counting bells knelling classes to a close.”
Heaney use assonance to show the sorrowful mood created by the repition of the letter e in “bells knelling”. Heaney’s use of effective word choice is very good when he uses the word “knelling” to describe the bells. This is very effective as it describes the bells having a very sombre and depressing mood which creates the sorrowful mood of the poem.
Heaney goes on to explain his father’s emotional state in stanza two:
“In the porch I met my father crying-
He had always taken funerals in his stride-“
When Heaney writes this, he understands that his father is crying as he can usually stay in control of his emotions when there is a funeral but he is crying because it was his son Christopher. However in stanza three “The baby cooed and laughed,” shows the paradox between the father and the baby. This comparison confuses Heaney even further because the baby is happy but his father is in emotional distress. However the baby is unaware of the surrounding distress and this is the reason of the happiness of the baby.
Heaney uses a very effective technique to show the emotional state of his mother:
“Away at school, as my mother held my hand
in hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.”
Heaney uses a very effective technique called enjambment. He uses this technique especially for this because it highlights and emphasises the last word “hand.” Heaney emphasises this because he is showing that his mother doesn’t want him to leave her just like Christopher.
Heaney’s most effective technique which he uses in the poem is in stanza six when he goes on to explain his experience when he goes up to see his brother:
“Snowdrops
And candles soothed the bedside I saw him”
Heaney uses symbolism which highlights the sorrowful mood. It is very effective as it shows the snowdrop, the first flower seen at the beginning of spring, freshen the bedside and it also gives hope in the future. Also Heaney uses another technique called a transferred epithet. This technique is also very effective as it gives the indication that the snowdrops and candles are soothing the bedside but in fact they are soothing Heaney himself.
However the sorrowful mood which was created in the first line of the poem has stayed right through from beginning to end of the poem and the last line shows this when Heaney writes “A four foot box, a foot for every year.” This is very effective and uses a technique called monosyllabic. Although the last sentence is not all monosyllabic it is almost with only one word not monosyllabic. However this is clear to the reader that it is actually meant to be there.
Overall, it is clear that the mood of the sorrow is clearly created in “Mid Term Break,” by Seamus Heaney. Heaney’s pain is highlighted throughout the poem and by using all the poetic techniques examined, including symbolism and effective word choice, shows the emotional states of Heaney and his parents.
