English Literature made easy - Poetry

Mid Term Break

By Seamus Heaney

I sat all morning in the college sick bay counting bells knelling classes to a close. At two o'clock our neighbours drove me home.

In the porch I met my father crying - He had always taken funerals in his stride and Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.

The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram when I came in and I was embarrassed. By old men standing up to shake my hand and tell me they were "sorry for my trouble," whispers informed strangers I was the eldest away at school.

As my mother held my hand in hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs. At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived with the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.

Next morning I went up into the room. Snow drops and candles soothed the bedside, I saw him for the first time in six weeks. Paler now, wearing a poppy bruise on the left temple, he lay in the four foot box as in a cot, no gaudy sears, the bumper knocked him clear.

A four foot box, a foot for every year.

Commentary:

Seamus Heaney in his sad poem 'MID TERM BREAK' reveals the saddest experience of a fatal accident and the recollection of the sad incident experienced by the dead child's brother. His excitement, fear and the saddest experience exposed in the most effective manner.

"I sat all morning in the college sick bay counting bells knelling classes to a close" "Counting bells" shows his emotional change getting depressed, his excitement after hearing his little brother's fatal accident and his extreme anxiety to get home.

"At two o'clock our neighbours drove me home" The speaker, the little boy's brother, thinks about his father's attitudes - "a man who has attended a number of funerals, but in this instance he has lost his manly power to hold up his tears.

His inability to bear his little son's untimely pathetic departure and "Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow" The baby boy's behaviour pattern.

The symbolic presence of "The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram." 'The "pram" - suggesting a pleasant, playful child and the devoted family setting.' The contrasting element, the babyish actions of the dead child and the solemn and silent behaviour pattern of the adult folk who have turned up to express their deep sympathy to the dead child's family members.

The mother of the child grieving and wailing unable to bear-up the sudden death of her little child.

"a ten o'clock the ambulance arrived with the corpse stanched and bandaged by the nurses"

A grim picture, with horror and mystery prevailing.

" - snow drops. And candles soothed the bed side, I saw him for the first time in six weeks. Faler now.

The two words PALER NOW highlight the pathetic situation created and the sad procedure prevailing. "Paler now" symbolizing the most pathetic incident "premature death" of the innocent little child and the procedure prevailing.

The elder brother consoling himself by seeing "No GAUDY SCARS and the little coffin "A four foot box, a foot for every year."

"Wearing a poppy bruise on the left temple. He lay in the four foot box as in a cot. No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear." Seamus Haeney using a very simple diction style brings out a portrait of a little child faced with an extremely pathetic situation.

A funeral of a four year old little boy dead in a traffic accident, the behaviour of the family members, the neighbours and the arrival of the ambulance itself highlight the extremely pathetic situation. The most remarkable and significant line.

"A four foot box, a foot for every year"

This line stands by itself away from the rest of the lines highlighting the most tragle situation. The whole poem with the alternate three lined and four lined stanzas with the title MID TERM BREAK suggestive of an extremely sad departure, symbolizing the death of a little child, creating the grim picture of the tragic situation.

----

THE NIGHT MAIL - by W. H. Auden

This is the Night Mail crossing the Border
Bringing the cheque and Postal order
Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the corner, the girl next door.
Pulling for Beattock, a steady climb
The gardient's against her, but she's on time
Pass cotton-grass and moorland boulder,
Snorting noisily, she passes
Silent miles of wind-bent grasses.

Birds turn their heads as she approaches,
Stare from the bushes at her blank-faced coaches,
Sheepdogs cannot turn her course;
They slumber on with paws across.
In the farm she passes no one wakes,
But a jug in a bedroom gently shakes.

Dawn freshens the climb is done,
Down towards Glasgow she descends.
Towards the steam tugs yelping down the glade of cranes,
Towards the fields of apparatus, the furnaces
Set on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen.
All scotland waits for her.
In the dark glens, beside the pale-green sea lochs
Men long for news.

Letters of thanks, letters, from banks
Letters of joy from the girl and the boy,
Receipted bills and invitations
To inspect new stock or visit relations,
And applications for situations
And timid lovers' declarations and gossip, gossip from all the nations.

News circumstantial, news financial,
Letters with holiday's snaps to enlarge in.

Letters with faces scrawled in the margin,
Letters from uncles, cousins and aunts,
Letters to Scotland from the South of France,
Letters of condolence to highlands and lowlands
Notes from overseas to Hebrides,
Written on paper of every hue,
The pink, the violet, the white and the blue,
The chatty, the chatty the boring, adoring,
The cold and official and the hearts outpouring
Clever, stupid, short and long,
The typed and the printed and the spelt all wrong.

Thousands are still asleep
Dreaming of terrifying monsters,
Or of friendly tea beside the band at Cranston's Crawford's.
Asleep in working Glasgow, asleep in well set Edinburgh
Asleep in granite Aberdeen,
They continue their dreams
And shall wake soon and long for letters,
And none will hear the postman's knock
Without a quickening of the heart
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?

****

COMMENTARY

W. H. Auden's (1907-1973) poem THE NIGHT MAIL is supposed to be "Commentary for a Documentary film made in 1936". The short film ends with Auden's poem read by Auden himself to music "Composed by Benjamin Britten".

Auden's poem NIGHT MAIL is a popular poem expressing his delight and recognition of the services carried out successfully, serving thousands of people of the area. The train's journey is carefully scheduled and operated to the best of its kind getting closer to the people.

Auden expresses his extreme admiration and appreciation by describing the services rendered by the NIGHT MAIL in the most appropriate manner; considering all the people in the area as possessing equal status. Bringing letters, postal orders and cheques.

"Letters for the rich, letters for the poor, the shop at the corner the girl next door". The stylish movement of the NIGHT MAIL is highlighted by the landscape, the NIGHT MAIL covers "A steady climb," "Pass cotton grass and moorland boulder and wind bent grasses".

THE NIGHT MAIL's movement is steady and stylish inviting the attention of everyone.

"Birds turn their heads as she approaches" "sheep dogs cannot turn their course". "The sleeping inhabitants in the farms and the gentle shake of a jug in a bedroom".

Showing the steady movement of the NIGHT MAIL not disturbing the residents of the area.

"Heading for the next destination". The train track is on a slope enabling the "mechanical system" of the train to be relieved of hard work.

"Dawn freshens, the climb is done. Down to-wards Glasgow she descends towards the steam tugs yelping down the glad of cranes".

The journey of the NIGHT MAIL is faced with the STEAM HUGS and the FIELDS of APPARATUS......" "All Scotland waits for her".

The people of Scotland anxiously waiting to welcome the NIGHT MAIL bring various kinds of letters.

"Letters of thanks letters from banks letters of joy from the girl and the boy receipted bills and invitations. To inspect newstock or visit relation". All "men long for news" is a familiar statement.

Everybody waits anxiously for news - news of all kinds Auden has observed carefully even the minute details of the variety of mail, the train carries.

All types for all types of people. May be happy news may be sad news, expectations fulfilled, official letters greetings-beautiful, attractive, plain or informative.

A variety of letters for the expected and the unexpected. The "universal appeal" of the post and communication is beautifully embossed and spontaneously developed inviting the attention of the reader to the NIGHT MAIL.

Though the Postal Communication is a common topic, people of every part of the world share the feelings of the poet and the magnetic approach to the situations created by the poet. Auden has observed even the minute details of the attitudes of the people who received letters, "the response of the citizenry" in a forceful manner .

"And shall wake soon and long for letters and none will hear the postman's knock without a quickening of the heart for who can bear to feel himself forgotten".

The poet has given the NIGHT MAIL a feminine character attributing the tender and delicate characteristics inviting the care and attention, appreciation and admiration of the reader.

Simplicity of the diction style, observation of minute details, rhyme scheme, onomatopoeic epithets; "gossip, gossip", The chatty, the catty the enticing rhyme scheme enhancing the rhythm pattern, creating the model of the moving train, making the poem NIGHT MAIL appreciable.

Mrs. C. Ekanayake, Retd. Specialist Teacher Eng.