Heaney is taken home by his neighbours at “two o’clock.” His unremitting measure of time throughout the poem shows that he wishes for time to go faster.
When Heaney arrives home he is greeted by family, friends and neighbours. They seek to make him feel better by employing euphemisms such as “It was a hard blow.” This is pertinent to the situation, as Heaney’s brother was killed in a car accident. A euphemism is the use of words which seem less harsh to describe or comment on the situation.
In the next verse Heaney describes how “The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram.” This serves as a contrast to the reactions of the others in the room, and is a sign that life goes on. It seems as if the only person who thinks this is the baby. Another contrast comes in the next few lines: “Whispers informed strangers that I was the eldest, away at school, as my mother held my hand in hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.” Heaney uses an enjambment here. It says how he is still, in this case, treated younger by his mother, even though he is the eldest. His mother could be unconsciously replacing Heaney’s little brother with Heaney himself. It also shows Heaney’s confusion by not knowing how to react.
The idea of passing time continues in the next verse with, “At ten o’clock the ambulance arrived with the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.” The use of the word “corpse” could possibly mean that Heaney is distancing himself from the horror, as he is possibly unable to accept the death. Using “the corpse” instead of “his corpse” shows that Heaney does not think of him as his brother anymore, making the line more upsetting.
“Snowdrops and candles soothed the bedside” is a line in the next verse that exercises personification. The sentence also makes the situation seem less upsetting. The use of the word “soothing” makes the sentence softer. Candles are associated with light, and the fact that Heaney went into the bedroom “the next morning” - morning also being associated with light - could mean that the situation is no longer as depressing. Heaney by this point in the poem shows signs of coming to terms with his brother’s death. The use of personification shows he is perhaps hoping his brother is at peace.
In the final paragraph, Heaney links childhood with death saying: “He wore a poppy bruise on his left temple, he lay in the four foot box as in his cot.” This explains that Heaney’s brother was only a young child when he died, hence the line, “As in his cot.” The significance of the word “poppy” is that it describes the bruise in a more pleasant way. The fact that the poppy is a remembrance flower shows that Heaney still feels his brother is with him.
In the last line the age of Heaney’s brother is revealed: “A four foot box, a foot for every year.” The repetition of the letter ‘f’ seems like he is almost spitting the sentence out, showing that he is angry at what happened to his brother. He was disgusted, possibly feeling contempt for what happened to his brother. This line stands alone to make the reader feel upset and draw attention to how young Heaney’s brother was when he died. By doing this, Heaney completely changed to tone of the line. The line standing alone also emphasises how unfair it was that a child this young could die like this, and shows that life is not safely held, and can be taken away at any moment.
Seamus Heaney uses many techniques to accentuate the unhappiness of his brother’s death, and to develop the reader’s understanding of the experience. In my opinion, the most effective of these techniques is the use of contrasts. At certain points in the poem, certainly towards the end, you are not sure whether Heaney is outraged at the death of his brother, or whether he is accepting of it. He creates this uncertainty by using contrasts throughout. Heaney’s choice of language and structure describe - and so help the reader understand - how unnatural and horrifying it is for a child to die.
