Heaneys Childhood Memories in Poems Mid-Term Break and...

Heaneys Childhood Memories in Poems Mid-Term Break and Follower Seamus Heaney is an established Irish poet who was born on April 13th 1939. He was the oldest of nine children and was brought up on a remote farm in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. He has a lot of typically Irish memories which he includes in his poems. The three main memories that he brings up in the two poems Mid-Term Break and Follower are the death of his brother Christopher, farm life and breaking the family tradition. At 18, Heaney left his small village to pursue his English career, unaware of just how talented a poet he was. It wasnt until he attended Queens College to study a degree in English and got involved with†¦show more content†¦Heaney is able to do this by not showing any emotion at all from himself, but from other peoples reactions to the circumstances. Heaney actually wrote this poem 13 years after the incident, so it is clear this has deeply affected him emotionally. There are many people in Mid-Term Break. Each of these people is significant. Heaney is the most important, because the poem is describing his memory. However, because Heaney is writing as an observational poet, without the other characters emotions, the poem would be bland and without feeling. In the first stanza, you find out that it is written in the first person narrative and the persona is most likely to be Heaney himself. It begins in the college sick bay, where Heaney has been waiting all morning, not knowing why. At this point, Heaney could be feeling bored, isolated and lonely. It would give him time to analyse the situation, and think why he had been sent there. The poem suggests he was there for a long time by using phrases like: I sat all morning.... and Counting bells knelling classes to a close. The first phrase used obviously referred to how long he had been there, but the second was a little harder to fathom. If he was counting bells knelling classes, this would mean several classes have already started. Due to the large time gap between eachShow MoreRelated Comparing Seamus Heaney Poems Follower, Mid-term Break, and Digging3940 Words   |  16 Pagesthis essay I will be comparing three Seamus Heaney poems we looked at in class these are called, â€Å"Follower†, â€Å"Mid-term Break† and, â€Å"Digging†. There are differences as well as similarities, the similarities include: they are all poems about and set in Seamus’ childhood memories In addition, all the poems more or less use some of the same poetic devices and techniques like: onomatopoeia and some of the same characters appear in all three poems such as like: Seamus (himself obviously) and his fatherRead More Common Themes in Poetry Essay4006 Words   |  17 Pagesanalysing numerous poems, I have chosen two examples of the famous Irish Poet, Seamus Heaneys work: Follower and Mid-Term Break. Both poems relate to the poets past, and are certainly associated with a specific loss of a loved one - one a literal loss, and the other a subconscious loss. Mid-Term Break, which I found to be a very touching and poignant poem, describes the loss of the poets younger brother, Christopher when Heaney was a child, hence the poem is of a childhood tragedy as Read MoreEssay about The poetry of Seamus Heaney is deceptively simple1774 Words   |  8 PagesThe poetry of Seamus Heaney is deceptively simple. Examine this comment in the light of his choices of subject, diction, and structure. You should refer to at least two poems in your responses. The deceptive simplicity of the poet can be helped to be understood through P A M Dirac, who suggests that poetry tries to tell people in a way that is understood by no one, something everybody already knew. If you can comprehend this, it is easier to see how the poetry of Heaney can be called deceptivelyRead MoreSeamus Heaney – ‘at a Potato Digging’3379 Words   |  14 PagesSeamus Heaney – ‘At a Potato Digging’ †¢ Context †¢ †¢ The poem deals with two different potato harvests. One is the harvest from the present day that goes successfully and which delivers a rich crop. The second potato harvest looks back to the famine of 1845 when the crop failed and many people starved. Whilst the famine is no longer a threat, its ongoing fear remains and this can be seen in the use of religious language throughout the poem. For example, the bowed heads of the potato pickers suggestRead MoreThe Way Wordsworth and Heaney Present Nature and Rural Life in Their Poetry4285 Words   |  18 Pagesand revel in their love of nature. Years later, after moving twice more, and getting married, Wordsworth moved to Rydal Mount, where he spent the remainder of his life, until 1850 when he died, aged 80. Almost all of Wordsworths poems share a common factor, which is nature. However, in his work, Wordsworth does not simply just describe nature or the natural environment; instead, he relates it to himself and explores his emotions towards it. Within his poetry, Wordsworth Read MoreEssay on Seamus Heaneys Background and Poetry3041 Words   |  13 PagesSeamus Heaneys Background and Poetry Seamus Heaney had a Roman Catholic upbringing in a rural area of Northern Ireland. How does his poetry reflect his background? Heaneys poetry is able to reflect his background by his use of language and the technique he expresses his experiences. I will cover his background into three sections: his childhood, the community and his reflections. I will start by looking at his feelings and experiences in the poem Death of a Naturalist. The poet