In this essay I will be describing the techniques used in the poems "Out, Out" by Robert Frost and "Mid - Term Break" by Seamus Heaney.

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An Essay on the Poems “Out, Out”

and “Mid -Term Break”

In this essay I will be describing the techniques used in the poems “Out, Out” by Robert Frost and “Mid – Term Break” by Seamus Heaney. Both poems are deal with the same subject matter, the death of a young person but in very different styles.

The poem “Out, Out” describes a boy who is “Doing a man’s work” for his family by chopping wood. His sister calls “Supper” which distracts the boy and he saws off most of his hand. He is then taken to hospital to have his hand amputated but dies during the operation.

The title “Out, Out” is taken from the play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare. The line is “Out, Out brief candle.” This is used at the death of Macbeth’s wife. This refers to how fragile life is.

The poem narrates the events. It reads like a story, but is set out in stanza’s which is a poetic format. As the poem gets further towards the death of the child the sentences are visibly shorter. This technique continues that the death is closer as if it seems that the poem is speeding up.

There is repetition in the words “Snarled, Rattled” as used to describe the saw. This  personification, highlights that there is a threat and helps to build tension as we move towards the “event”. “Snarled, rattled” are onomatopoeic and liken the saw to dangerous animals.

Lines three to six change the atmosphere and provide a contrast, as a sort of relief to the horror of the poem. This is effective because it creates a false illusion that everything is fine and nothing will go wrong. We are warned of the harsh reality of the content when the words “Snarled, Rattled” are repeated.

“Day was all but done/ Call it a day.”

This, for me, creates a feeling of pathos; we feel sad for the boy because his family, who should be the closest people to him and so do not respond to how we imagine they would. They return to their usual routine after the sun has set and do not seem to care because they are not the ones dead, this makes us pity the boy more. The family does not appear to know how to be able to mourn the boy’s death.

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“By giving him the half hour.”

The technique is to create a feeling of regret. If the sister had only called “supper” half an hour later the boy would still be alive. The regret described in these lines gives the effect of an unfortunate event which makes the poem more depressing.

Although the boy was in control of the saw and could be seen as responsible for his own death. Robert Frost by describing the saw as a vicious animal, in contrast to the vulnerable boy and his “child’s heart” creates and effect so the reader is in no doubt ...

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