The aims of this essay are to compare two of Seamus Heaneys’s poems which deal with the theme of childhood. The two poems are called ‘The Early Purges’ and ‘Mid-Term Break’.
The relevance of the title ‘The Early Purges’ is that it informs us about what happens during the poem and it tells us what the subject of the poem is. The poem goes straight into what it is about and it is based the death of animals on a farm and is subjected to two people’s opinions over the killing of the animals. The poem is very ambiguous and ironic with a gory tone to it because of its in depth description of the death.
The poem has seven three line stanzas called tercets, and each line holds five to ten words keeping the poem easy to read throughout. Heaney has chosen to use this stanza structure and line length because it builds up tension and keeps you in suspense. It is also easier to digest in small stanzas and I think he has done this for us to get the full effect of the poem. There is a rhyme scheme in the poem but is split into para-rhymes because it gives a flow to the poem and grasps the readers attention all the way through.
Seamus Heaney uses lots of imagery in this poem to get the reader to really imagine how the animals were treated on the farm. Heaney mentions a line that Dan Taggart had said on the farm. “Like wet Gloves” Dan had thought they looked like wet gloves when they were being drowned. Also while Heaney had watched the kittens drown, he said that he had watched them “Turn mealy and crisp as old summer dung”. As you can see, again how Heaney exaggerates on the killing of the kittens, and how he sees the kittens decompose to make the reader endure the suffering. In the end of ‘The early Purges’ Heaney says “’Prevention of Cruelty’ talk cuts ice in town”. This means that the people in the town think that cruelty is unacceptable.
Throughout the poem Heaney uses lots of different techniques. The first thing that strikes me is an oxymoron which is used. “a frail metal sound”, is the two opposite words. The sound of the brittle kittens hitting the solid metal bucket. In the second stanza there is alliteration of the letter “S” with “Soft” , “Scraping” , “Soon” , “Soused” , “Slung” and “Snout”. This speeds up the poem and keeps the pace. Another oxymoron is used in the second stanza, “tiny din” states that the kittens are helpless and struggling. Dying almost. I have also picked up on Heaney’s use of dialogue in the poem and in the third stanza, Heaney mentions about what Dan Taggart had said. “Sure isn’t it better for them now?” It looks as if Dan is trying to make Seamus Heaney feel better about the situation.
