April 1939
- April 2013
• Seamus Justin Heaney- Was an Irish poet, playwright
and translator.
• He was born on the 13th April 1939 near
Castledawson, Northern Island.
• He passed away on the 30th August 2013 (aged 74)
• He received a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995.
• Heaney was one of nine children. His younger
brother Christopher was killed in a road accident
while Heaney was studying at St Columb’s. The
poem “Mid-Term Break” is related to his brother’s
death.
• Knelling- the sound made by a bell, especially for a
death or funeral.
• Porch- a structure attached to the entrance of a
building.
• Stride- a step in progress towards an aim.
• Cooed- Make a soft murmuring sound.
• Stanched- stop the flow of blood
• Poppy- a flower. Symbol of peace, sleep or death.
• Gaudy- Showy, bright and sometimes tacky.
• It presents an elder brother having to deal with the
terrible trauma, the death of his younger brother.
• The poem is powerful and moving because of its
emotional restraints and control of tone the male
speaker uses.
• An elegiac tone is established at the start of the
poem (elegy), this is a poem written to remember a
person who passed away.
• The little boy is remembered clearly and very
realistic as he lies in “A four foot box, a foot for
every year.”
• This poem is a first person account of the
experience of facing death.
• Line 1-3
• The ‘I’ shows isolation and being alone.
• The ‘sick bay’ is a place where one goes when one is
not feeling well and from experience we know it is
were one waits for your parents or guardians to
come and pick you up when you are sick or
something serious happened.
• ‘Counting bells’, shows waiting for time to pass.
• The word ‘knelling’ is appropriate for this poem as it
is the sound of a funeral bell. It is also
onomatopoeia.
• From line 2, the reader can pick up that there is a
• The rhythm and alliteration of the ‘c’, and ‘I’ sounds
reinforces a mournful tone and the ‘bells’ and
‘knelling’ help to suggest that time is slowing down
or coming to an end.
• The speaker is driven home by a neighbour and not
his family which contributes to the idea that
something serious is going on.
• The speaker clearly remembers that it was “two
o’clock” which is important because humans tend to
remember the precise dates and times of traumatic
events.
• This stanza focusses on the speakers father and his
emotional response to the death of his child.
• He did not usually respond to funerals in this
manner. “Funerals in his stride”
• This death is different from other funerals for the
father because it is personal.
• Big Jim Evans statement that the death was “a
hard blow” has a double meaning. It is used
figuratively to refer to the emotional impact the
death had, as well as literally how hard the car had
to hit the boy to kill him.
• This stanza presents another contrasting idea. The
babies innocence and oblivion is visible when he is
happy to see his brother VS the stark reality of why
his brother returned home.
“The baby cooed and laughed”
• Above also represents a change in the rhythm from
sombre and sad to bouncy and happy.
• The unusualness of the situation is further
developed in lines 8-
11.
• In the lines above the speaker is “embarrassed” by
the sympathy the old men provide because it is
awkward. The awkwardness stems from the use of
euphemisms for example “Sorry… for his trouble”
(line 10).
• “Whispers” contribute to the hushed, muted
atmosphere in the house.
• Enjambment into the next line shows that the
mother had been crying continuously.
• Concentration now shifts to the speaker’s mother.
• His mother does not say anything, instead she
holds his hand and “coughed out angry tearless
sighs” (line 13)
• Line 13 implies that the mother cried so much there
are no more tears to cry, however she is enraged
with anger because the driver of the vehicle failed
to avoid hitting her son.
• Line 14 presents us with another exact reference to
time and the reality that the family is receiving the
corpse (there is no more life).
• The fact that the corpse is “stanched” and
“bandaged” shows that they tried to save the boy.
• This is the first indication of what “the trouble”
actually is.
• The speaker visits his brothers room.
• The details surrounding this event emphasises the
quiet atmosphere as the boys are reunited after “six
weeks”
• “Snowdrops” represents a pure image. Together
with the “candles” they are symbolic of life,
however used in a ritual manner as one would have
at funerals.
• “Soothed”- presents the idea that the candles and
the flowers are there to comfort the dead boy but
also provides comfort to the grieving family.
• The speaker is unable to come to terms with the
death of his younger brother and instead refers to
him as looking “Paler”.
• A “poppy” is a flower. The use of this term to
describe the bruise draws attention to how such an
insignificant injury had such a devastating effect.
• It also shows fragility of life, which a poppy is
traditionally associated with.
• The description now becomes unbearably powerful
as the speaker uses such restraint to describe his
brother.
• The use of the words “cot” and “pram” emphasises
the horror faced by parents who is predeceased by
a child.
• The final line stands on its own because the
statement reminds us of the small stature of the boy
and the brevity of his young life.
• The tone of the poem is a sombre tone and this is
supported by the choice of diction.
• The mood is one of calmness as there is no mass
hysteria over the death of the young boy, only the
mother shows some anger towards the driver.
• Themes: Death, grief, central feeling of loss and
sadness.
• 1. What is the tone of the poem? (1)
• 2. Identify two themes in the poem and support your
answer by quoting from the poem. (2)
• 3. How did the speakers brother pass away? (1)
• 4. Identify the use of a euphemism in the poem. (1)
• 5. How did the speaker’s father usually react to
funerals? (2)
• 6. What is significant about the speaker
remembering the exact times of specific events that
occurred in the poem? (2) • 7. Why is the last line of
the poem on its own? (1)
