How Heaney portrays images of family and country life Essay Example For Students

How Heaney portrays images of family and country life Essay In this essay I will endeavour to explore all various phrases, words, metaphors and diction that contribute towards the portrayal of images regarding family and country life. I shall analyse two of Heaneys poems to gather these images, the two poems being Mid Term Break, taken from Death of a naturalist (Heaneys first collection), and Blackberry Picking. I chose these two poems as I felt that Mid Term Break portrays family life excellently, whereas Blackberry Picking is just as effective in portraying country life. This essay will also give the reader insight into the mind of Heaney as a young child, as both of the poems are written in first person narrative, his views and thoughts gathered from his childhood, yet written by Heaney as an adult looking back at his youth. I shall first focus on Mid Term Break. The title immediately suggests that something is wrong or unusual, as it is irregular to have a break during mid -term. The title because of its obscurity brings about two possible emotions. The first, curiosity, releasing the inquisition of, whats wrong? This inquiry is often found being asked by a young child to his/her mother, perhaps driven by their own sense of curiosity frequently found in young children. The second emotion evoked by the title being happiness and relief at the thought of a break from school perhaps. This however is very ironic, as the rest of the poem is related to death. The words mid term, like the first mentioned emotion of curiosity, are again associated with children, as it relates to school times. Consequently of these associations suggested by the title, my understanding of the title is that it is related to a child who is having a break from school for some unknown reason. I think the poet chose this title perhaps to confuse the reader as to whether the poem is going to be filled with happiness and joy at the thought of a break from school, or a tragedy forcing the child to be summoned from school. After reading the poem through, I am inclined to believe that the poem is written in past tense, from the 1950s, about a boy who has been taken out of school during the mid term, due to the tragic death of his younger brother. Heaneys emotions are very confused throughout the poem and he doesnt know how to accept the dire circumstances. This poem is more so related to family life than to that of country life, as there are not many aspects of this poem which relate specifically to the country, whereas there is an abundance of use of words and phrases with relevance to family life. It is written in first person narrative, with three lines to each of its seven stanzas. One line is separated from the others at the very end of the poem I sat all morning in the college sick bay counting bells ringing knelling classes to a close. This first line of the poem sets the tone of the poem almost immediately. It depicts the similitude of the setting to a funeral, there is a tense atmosphere. The assonance of the sound ell in the words bells and knelling seem to make the sentence drone on even more, making the wait seem even more prolonged. Second line of the first stanza At two oclock our neighbours drove me home represents passing of time, resembling the passing of his brothers life. Although the connotations of this stanza are linked with the funeral and seem to give thought to them, Heaney does not yet describe how he himself feels at this point. The first line of the second stanza is a question, this question of In the porch I met my father crying? emphasises the confusion and naivety Heaney faces at the harsh reality. He does not understand why his father, his role model is crying. A second question is used in the second line of this stanza, the question being He had always taken funerals in his stride? He still does not comprehend the finality of his brothers death. These two questions portray the first of Heaneys own emotions in the poem. The third line of this stanza holds a double meaning. This is when Big Jim Evans says that it was a hard blow. These words are representative of the emotional blow the family are experiencing, and of the impact between the car and Christopher (Heaneys deceased brother). This stanza starts to evoke sympathy towards Heaney and his family, as the images that we receive make us very empathetic and sorrowful. We now are experiencing Heaneys personal distraught as well as his familys. The third stanza bears relevance to the emotions of two members of Heaneys family. Heaney and his baby brother. Both of their naivety is demonstrated in their actions. For example, the baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram. This contrasts completely to the atmosphere created by the second stanza. The baby is obviously oblivious to the now depressing atmosphere. Heaney the goes on to say I was embarrassed by old men standing up to shake my hand. Pip's mysterious benefactor EssayHe then describes how the different colours of the blackberries, and the different textures in these two lines, a glossy purple clot among others red, green, hard as a knot Immediately the scene is set, and a range of colourful blackberries are depicted. The fact that some berries were still red and green when others were purple captures Heaneys hope of them turning into the glossy purple blackberries he adores. He describes the blackberries as being sweet. This contributes to the poets aim of not only texture and visual imagery, but also describing the taste aswell. Heaney conveys to the reader how he and his friends went out to collect blackberries where briars scratched and wet grass bleached our boots. Again not only visual imagery is provoked, but the descriptions of the briars scratching and the wetness of the grass reveal even more knowledge of country life to the reader. The words lust for picking contribute to expose the way he felt towards the actual event as opposed to the actual blackberries. Four words in the very first line of the second stanza have a large augmentation to the build up of portrayal of country life. These words are hayfields, cornfields and potato drills. These words suggest to me that Heaney lived on a farm, which would ultimately propose that Heaney lived a country life. The word trekked in the second line gives us the idea that Heaney and his friends saw their outdoor pursuit of blackberries as a mission perhaps, like a childish daydream. He then goes on to say that their hands were peppered with thorn pricks, our palms as sticky as Bluebeards. The thorn pricks indicate their eagerness to obtain their berries, almost as though they were their treasure, and they would do anything to regain it. He relates to Bluebeard, the pirate, perhaps as another addition to his childhood daydreams? We learn that in the final stanza, that they hoarded the berries in the byre. The word byre meaning cow house again bears great relevance to the country life theme. The word hoarded again conveys a childish selfishness, as though they wished to keep them to themselves. Heaney describes the fermentation of the blackberries as a fur, a rat grey fungus, glutting on our cache. I think the description shows his detest of the inevitable rotting of the berries. He describes how the sweet flesh turned sour, this depicts the change again in the berries. Heaneys personal response and emotions towards the demise of his fruit is shown in the last three lines. He says I always felt like crying. It wasnt fair that all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot. Each year I hoped theyd keep, knew they would not. This shows an utterly childlike perception of life. When Heaney says Each year I hoped theyd keep, knew they would not, it reflects the hope he first felt at the beginning of the poem when he could see them changing to a purple colour. He does not want to accept the rotting of the fruit, but subconsciously knows he will have to. I believe that after analysing this poem that the emotional effects on the reader are not as prominent as in Mid Term Break. However, both of the poems have different aims towards the reader. I feel that Mid Term Break was written to evoke deep emotions from the reader, whereas I feel that Blackberry Picking was written to create wonderful colourful images of the country. Although I say these two things, I do not wish to say that they do not contain any of each others qualities at all. For example, although Mid Term Break evokes emotion, imagery is used in the words snowdrops and poppy bruise. Similarly in Blackberry Picking, imagery is its prominent feature but emotions are evoked when Heaney says Each year I hoped theyd keep, knew they would not. Finally, in conclusion to reading and analysing both poems I feel that Heaney has succeeded in portraying family and country life. I also feel that he has succeeded in evoking much thought from the reader in Mid Term Break. I feel this because of the range of emotions he depicts throughout this poem. Heaney again has succeeded in making the imagery in Blackberry Picking very eminent, and protrusive. I do not feel that there is a striking similarity in between these two poems at all, although the main similarity in my view is the naivety and confusion felt by Heaney in both circumstances. Of the two poems, I preferred Mid Term Break because I enjoy a poem which is thought and emotion provoking, and I did not feel that Blackberry Picking provoked much emotion from me at all.