A Comparison of Seamus Heaneys Mid-Term Break and Digging Essay

A Comparison of Seamus Heaneys Mid-Term good luck and DiggingI am comparing two poems by Seamus Heaney- Mid-Term Break andDigging. Both of the poems are written close to his childhood and hisfamily.The graduation exercise poem I analysed was Mid-Term Break, where the transparent andstraight forward title Break caught my attention suggesting to methat this poem is going to be a positive experience, a break fromwork, a time to relax.The commencing stanza, the first line reads, ?I sat all morning in thecollege sick bay?, which has connotation of depression, illness andsuffering suggested from the word sick. Also with the adduce tocollege the reader gathers that the boy is in his late teens. Secondline, ?Counting bells knelling classes to a close?, the wordknelling in that line is associated with funerals and death so weget the facial expression that something might be wrong and gather a sense offoreboding at what is to come. The final line, ?At two o?clock ourneighbours drove me inhabitancy?, is unusual, why are his neighbours drivinghim home and not his parents? The question why are his parents drivinghim home this increases the sense of foreboding. Also there is falling speech rhythm in this stanza.In the second stanza, the line begins, ?In the porch I met my fathercrying?, and this confirms to the reader that something is wrong, thatsomething tragic has happened. The second line mentions that he takesfunerals in his stride, so that says to me that he?s attended quitea lot of funerals even though he?s not that old. The final line, ?AndBig Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow?, leads me to believe that BigJim Evans is a close friend and also that he is quite large suggestedby the adjective Big to descri... ...o poems Mid-Term Break and Digging are both good poems,which are both about families. Mid-Term Break is about when heleaves college and returns home to find out the news about his littlebrother. Digging is about his grandfather and how he?s getting ol dand finding work difficult, so both poems are about family, besides quitedifferent circumstances. The layout of the two poems is verydifferent. Mid-Term Break being very straight forward, just havingthree lines to each stanza and Digging being completely resistance andfollowing no strategic pattern.Overall I think that Mid-Term Break is a better poem, as I find itmore serious and was personally more effective by this poem due to itbeing quite sad talking about his brother and that last line, ?A four foundation garment box, a foot for every year?, which is a very emotional last lineto finish a poem.