He is taken home by his neighbours and comes to see his weeping dad. When he is at home his parent's friends and relatives meet the young man. This makes him uneasy and there is a contrast when the baby coo's and laughs when everyone is quiet and sad. The next day he walks up to where his dead brother is lying and we find out how he died and that he only had a small 'poppy bruise' to prove it.

At the beginning of the poem a young man is furthering his knowledge at college when he hears of the disastrous death of his four-year-old brother.

The boy's complex mixture of feelings start when he is still in the college and waiting to be taken home. He is feeling bored from waiting so long in the sickbay so he doesn't do much but just sit. We hear that he is in the sickbay and any traumatised person who had just lost a younger brother would

n't 'just sit all morning'. Although he is slightly anxious to see his parents and receive comfort for this disaster he is restless from waiting in the same room all morning. In this stanza there is the first hint that someone has died because we hear that he was 'counting bells knelling classes to a close' and the word knelling implies a death because it is linked to funerals. There is also alliteration in this sentence with 'counting', 'classes' and 'close' and this helps suggest the boredom that the boy is feeling. When he eventually is taken home, it is by his neighbours, which shows either that his parents are just too upset to drive a car.

I think this poem was well written and the complex feelings make you have to read it lots of times to fully understand it. The feelings usually found with death are not directly expressed in the poem like sorrow and grief and this leaves space for more complex feelings like anger, indifference and regret. I think the poet conveyed the feelings well by using puns, alliteration, contrast and by using metaphors. Also I think he chose a good title which can be used as a pun. 'Mid-Term Break' could mean his brother's head breaking or a break in his life or a break in the school term and also he wrote the poem very well. Because of the bitter irony and unexpected approach the poem has many complex feelings, which enhance the poem making an impact on the reader.

When he reaches home his weeping father meets him and another complex feeling of embarrassment is shown. Instead of sorrow the young man becomes embarrassed and feels awkwar

Some common words found in the essay are:
Seamus Heaney's, complex feelings, 'mid-term break', feelings anger, boy gaudy scars, 'poppy bruise', gaudy scars, boy gaudy, home neighbours,
Approximate Word count = 1068
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)