Plog 2: Mid-Term Break

In Mid-Term Break, Seamus Heaney describes he and some of his family members' reactions to the death of a young sibling. As the poem progresses, he gradually reveals more and more about what has happened, building a sort of tension throughout.
He begins by stating that he "sat all morning in the college sick bay counting bells knelling classes to a close". This reveals that he his anxious about something, something that would prevent him from going to class. He is too anxious to do anything but count the tolling of the bells.
When he arrives home, he states that he saw his father crying. This image immediately tells the reader that something very horrible has happened; a father is generally a figure associated with masculinity and strength, and something that would make such a figure cry must be very tragic. Heaney continues, saying that he was "embarrassed by old men standing up to shake my hand". This shows that Heaney is caught off guard by the sudden role reversal; normally he would be the one to respectfully shake an old man's hand. Once again, this indicates that something very terrible has happened. Heaney also uses the phrase "away at school", which suggests a sort of disconnection from his family that may add to his sadness. The title of the poem is also significant in this way. Mid-term Break for college students would generally be a time associated with vacation and family, but for Heaney it has been, almost ironically, associated with the death of a young sibling. Heaney also describes his brother's body, saying that "he lay in the four-foot box as in his cot". This seems to compare death to sleep, suggesting that the young boy appears peaceful. Heaney finishes the poem with a one-line stanza: "A four-foot box, a foot for every year". This reveals the last peice of information about what has happened, and is meant to shock the reader, and impress the horror of the event.