The poem portrays a boy arriving home from school, “moaning in the college sick bay” to hear the news that his four year old brother has been killed in an accident. Upon arriving home, “I met my father crying.” This shows how death can cause much grief and trauma, as well as confusion. Here we can see that the stereotypical roles of the parents have been exchanged, with the father crying, and the boy’s mother, “Coughed out angry, tearless sighs.” It can be evident, that deaths were quite common, “He had always taken funerals in his stride.” But no-one expected the death to hit quite so close to the heart. Then the poem revels that the parents no longer were the spectators of the funerals, now that their own flesh and blood had been taken away from them.
The theme within the poem is subtly expressed, with an almost childlike innocence. The theme is set out in a simple manner, yet pays much attention to detail. The theme is one of “finality.” Hence the title plays a huge role in the revealing of the theme. “Mid-Term Break” suggests finality of one’s life and Time. Along with death brings finality, and along with finality comes the repercussions of death, such as trauma and grief for all involved.
The mood within the poem has a sad touch with a silence. The poem positions the reader to feel mixed emotions such as anger, grief and confusion and all of this brings up the topic of death. The poem however is so simple yet brings about so much emotion and depth.
There are many images portrayed in the poem, such as life altering consequences of death and the secrets of adolescence bring the poem to life. “I was embarrassed by the old men standing to shake my hand.” There is also an ongoing contrast between the young and old; life and death. However, the structure of the poem is free verse; therefore the poem tells a story without rhyme. This style suits the poem because it has a sad mood and each stanza reveals much of the story; a reflection of life and death.
The style and language are both simple, yet distinct and therefore this helps to reveal the theme. The simplicity of the poem’s content is what makes it so descriptive. The innocence is shown within the poem and a child view of death and this is reveled with language such as “Next morning I went into the room.” The style of the poem uses a lot of visual images, which are detailed “Snow-drops and candles soothed the bedside,” this contribute to the mood of the poem, the style and the audience’s perception.
