On the first line in the second stanza the first sight Heaney is greeted with when he arrives home is the his ‘Father crying
He had always taken funerals in his stride.’
Seamus is shocked to see his father crying this further instils he thoughts that something is drastically different about this funeral. In stanza two line three we here about ‘big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow’ the way the man is and suggests that Seamus is familiar with him as he is probably a farm hand and used to his presence. The term blow is used metaphorically, with the death being a hard blow: a hard situation for the family to cope with. We find out later that the child was killed by a car. It is used as an unintentional pun. This line displays the awkward atmosphere in the room and the common situation of people who are presented with awkward situations such as funerals not knowing what to say or unintentionally coming out with inappropriate comments.
In the third stanza we are introduced to another character present: the baby.
‘The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram.’
The actions of the baby are in complete contrast to those of all the other parties present in the room. The baby is oblivious to the state of affairs; he is shielded from the awkward atmosphere and spared from making awkward conversation by his childish innocence. Heaney points this out as though he is jealous of the baby, maybe he thinks things would be easier and less confusing if he too was oblivious and could just coo and rock the pram. When Heaney enters the room he is embarrassed. ‘When I came in I was embarrassed
By old men standing up to shake my hand’
At the time of his brother’s death it was the 1940s.It was instilled into children that they were to have great respect for their elders and were often expected to be seen and not heard. Heaney is embarrassed by these elders showing an unusual amount of respect and acknowledgment towards him. He does not know how to deal with this alien circumstance but to be embarrassed. They tell him
They were ‘sorry for my [his] trouble’.
They say this to Heaney as they do not know what words to say. It is a euphemism that gives their condolences whilst attempting not to upset Heaney further. ‘Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest.’ The whispering further shows the awkwardness of the situation and how conscious people are being to avoid speaking out of turn.Heaneys use of strangers detect some bitterness towards them. Why were these strangers there on ceremony? Were they just being interfering? Heaney feels they have no helpful contribution towards the family’s situation apart from making the circumstances harder and uncomfortable. His mother was the only one comforting him and in his eyes being the only person that was any use to him.’ As my mother held my hand’
He is aware of the strangers and their pointless attempts to make their comments unheard.
He describes his mother as coughing out ‘angry tearless sighs’. Her behaviour is that of great contrast to Heaney’s first sight of his father In the porch. His mother is too angry and beyond crying. His father crying and his mother despondent with anger exhibit the extreme emotions experienced by his family during the time of his brothers’ death. The emotional responses of both the characters are unstereotypical, as if their emotional gender roles have changed .Heaneys image of his father being strong and taking things in his stride is always is shattered. Heaney skilfully takes the reader through the house and order of events into different rooms from the porch to ‘the room’ creating vivid imagery assisting the reader to imagine and engage in the scenes.
‘At ten o’clock the ambulance arrived’. As when he was sitting in the sick bay during the first stanza, Heaney writes with precision remembering the exact time the ambulance came. He describes what the ambulance came to deliver.
‘the corpse stanched and bandaged by the nurses’
Heaney’s choice of the word corpse is bitter, with the parts corpse often being associated with murder and the police. It shows no loving emotion from Heaneys part towards the body as if Heaney has not at all accepted the death of his brother to be fact. It is a reaction of denial and disbelief. But the use of the phrase ‘stanched and bandaged’ portraying a clean and presentable image of the body contrasting with the previous image of a corpse. This stanza again shows Heaney using assonance, this time in his repetition of the short ‘a’- ‘At’ ’Ambulance’,’ arrived’ , ‘stanched’ and ‘bandaged – possibly emphasizing the stopping short of life and blood.
The penultimate stanza brings us to the next day.’ Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops
And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him
For the first time in six weeks. Paler now’. Here we find that it is the first time Seamus has seen his brother in six weeks. The images of snowdrops suggest a clean and calm atmosphere. Heaney described how the candles soothed the bedside and infact they quite literally soothed the young Seamus. The atmosphere in this room is in great contrast to the hot fuss and awkwardness that the first room presented him with when he first came home from school. The atmosphere is peaceful and tranquil. We see here that Heaney uses personal in the last two stanzas,’ him’, ‘his’ contrasting to his previous description of his deceased brother as just a corpse. He speaks as though brother had never left him and was in the room with him at that very time. Here is another example of him being in denial of his brothers’ death, talking as if he where still alive merely just lying in slumber upon the bed.
In the poem ‘Midterm break’ Heaney uses clear imagery to display the events ,capturing directly the emotions of different people , the feeling of the atmosphere and the effect that the babies death has taken on the different members of the family. The poem instils Heaney’s initial feelings of uncertainty into the reader and conveys the feelings of awkwardness so clearly that as a reader I am able to find myself in the room feeling and experiencing the intense atmosphere. Evoking feelings of unease and embarrassment. It is clear that this event in Heaney’s life was significant to his childhood. He describes it a clearly as if it were the present. By this we can see the impact not only the death had on his family but on himself as a child’s it is imprinted so clearly in his mind.
The second poem written by Seamus Heaney that I will be analyzing in order to compare its themes and ideas with the poem previous is ‘Digging’.
The poem displays how the young Seamus had great respect for his elders, in this poem ,the elders being the two main male role models in his life, his father and grandfather. Heaney conveys his admiration for his father and grandfather. How they were naturals at their trade just as he is with writing.
Heaney begins the poem with, ‘Between my finger and my thumb/ The squat pen rests; snug as a gun’. The use of this simile ‘snug as a gun’ displays how the pen fits, it appears comfortable and natural in his hand.
In the second stanza Heaney hears ‘a clean rasping sound’ coming from below his window.’ ‘When the spade sinks into gravelly ground
My father digging, I look down.’
The sharpness of the word rasping displays the element of precision to his fathers digging. With years of experience behind him. He describes his father as a ‘straining rump among the flower beds’ which rekindles Heaney childhood memories of his father working in the potato drills. As Heaney sees him bend down in the flower bed, he rises in Heaney s mind twenty years ago in the drills. ‘Comes up twenty years
Stooping in rhythm through potato drills,’
In the fourth stanza, Heaney uses the word ‘nestled’ to describe how his fathers’ boots fits on to the ‘lug’ of the spade. The word ‘nestled’ conjures up the images of comfort that we felt when Heaney was describing his relationship with his pen. His father is as comfortable with the spade. The word Nestled contrasting with ‘the coarse boot’. Heaney gives dignity through his description to digging which may just be seen otherwise as only labour intensive and boisterous. As Heaney is comfortable with the pen, he shows how his father was comfortable with a spade ‘the shaft above the knee was levered firmly’ displaying that everything was right,inplace and comfortable. The action is described exactly.
It is in the next stanza we feel more strongly Heaney’s pride towards father. He comments ‘By God, the old man could handle a spade, / Just like his old man’, The use of colloquial language emphasizes the pride in which Heaney has in his rural background. He boasts ‘My father cut more turf in a day/ than any other man on Toner’s bog’ showing his pride of this fact.
In the sixth stanza Heaney portrays the memories of taking milk out to his grandfather. He describes the figure he so admired. ‘he straightened up
To drink it then fell to right away…for the good turf digging.’ The image of his grandfather is strong and tall Someone Heaney may have once wanted to grow up to be like.
Again in this poem uses strong imagery to portray the scene to the reader. With Heaney using the senses to describe ‘the cold smell of potato mould’ alongside alliteration and onomatopoeia.’ the squelch and slap/of soggy peat ‘
‘Through living roots awaken in my head/ but I’ve no spade to follow men like them’. Heaney has awoken memories of his roots but has no desire to follow in their footsteps. For himself he sees his pen as mightier, feeling that he can still carry on and tell the stories and traditions of his upbringing without the spade.
‘between my finger and thumb /the squat pen rests/il did with it. The poem ‘Digging’ may be a slight attempt by Heaney to justify his choice of pen over spade. We know that Heaney’s parents at first were not too fond of him leaving the family tradition and rural ways of his upbringing but Heaney is possibly trying to convince the reader his family and even himself that he can still carry the traditions from his past and keep them alive through his poetry. The central extended metaphor of roots and digging shows Heaney’s writing is getting back to his own roots. It is at the end of the poem the pen is truly seen Heaneys’ weapon for digging
‘The squat pen rests.
I'll dig with it.’
. Digging through the memories, traditions and feelings of his past.
When comparing and contrasting the two poems ‘Digging’ and ‘Mid-Term Break’, we can identify many similarities and differences between the two,’Mid-term break’ has a clear formal structure, matching the occasion of the funeral and atmosphere , with three line stanzas. There is the odd occurrence of ryme.The last two lines form a rhyming couplet to highlight the briefness of the brother’s life. Emphasizing the complete nature of a life that is over. In contrast ‘digging’ forms a looser structure with a nostalgic overtone. Focusing on fond memories. There is a sense of it all being written down as the memories occur.
Both poems focus on events including his family proving his closeness to them .However the emotions connected with his family in the separate poems are very different. With the focal theme of ’Mid-term break’ being of awkwardness and death, for example he uses the word ‘knelling’, which is often associated with funeral bells.’ ‘Digging’ on the other hand explores the themes of joy, comfort and pride ‘By God, the old man could handle a spade’. And the significance of the relationship with his father in the two poems, How they are totally different in each poem. In ’Mid-term break’ Heaney’s views from’ Digging’ of his father being strong and tough are tainted by the occurrence of his brothers death where his father is reduced to an emotional wreck. The attitude towards his father is a key contrast in the poems.
But it is the direct vivid imagery and techniques that are used to convey this imagery that compare Heaney’s poems directly to one another. His style of poetry engages the reader in a way that makes the poem feel personal and real to the reader. Personally I found the ideas and in depth meanings of digging very effective and interesting. The poem recounts a rural world where without Heaney’s ‘Digging’ we may not be aware of .However the connection that Seamus Heaney creates with his reader ,no matter what the theme or mood of the poem, it is a strong personal connection reinforced constantly by his vivid ,sensory imagery and description .
