Compare Heaney’s Exploration of the Themes of Death in the Poems ‘the Early Purges’ and ‘Midterm Break’
Compare Heaney’s exploration of the themes of death in the poems ‘The Early Purges’ and ‘Midterm Break’
Heaney’s poems ‘The Early Purges’ and ‘Midterm Break’ deal with the macabre theme of death in similar ways in terms of structure but the techniques he uses by way of form and language to articulate his feelings about the loss of life are vastly different. They were both written about youthful naivety and childhood experiences ad his transition to pragmatism, or rather the speedy voyage he had to make into adulthood in rural Ireland. In ‘The Early Purges’ Heaney is portrayed as a wide eyed boy, struggling to come to terms with the self-sufficiency that comes with the farming lifestyle, the first line helps to signify the finality of the situation. This is excellent at helping the reader understand his true emotions as it’s written in first person, ‘I was six when I first saw kittens drown’ this personalises the almost cadaverous euthanasia to the child, whilst emphasising the certitude of the kittens lifespan. However in ‘Midterm Break’ Heaney is slightly further along in the transition process to manhood, this results in the death not being presented as something quite so barbaric, but as a more regular event, sort of ironic. This is supported by the title which implies something routine and mundane yet it’s something which requires close emotional and psychological support. These different ways of presenting the situation of death are what allows the stylistic features to be different. A technique Heaney uses in both poems is to create a sense of cruel irony, or to make ambiguous joke phrases which could be perceived as insensitive, for example in ‘The Early Purges’ when he says ‘the scraggy wee shits’ This implies his total disregard for the animal’s life which to Heaney who is here represented by a small child is totally horrifying as he (Dan Taggart) uses slang to actually state the disdain he has for their existence, however in ‘Midterm Break’ when
Heaney’s poems ‘The Early Purges’ and ‘Midterm Break’ deal with the macabre theme of death in similar ways in terms of structure but the techniques he uses by way of form and language to articulate his feelings about the loss of life are vastly different. They were both written about youthful naivety and childhood experiences ad his transition to pragmatism, or rather the speedy voyage he had to make into adulthood in rural Ireland. In ‘The Early Purges’ Heaney is portrayed as a wide eyed boy, struggling to come to terms with the self-sufficiency that comes with the farming lifestyle, the first line helps to signify the finality of the situation. This is excellent at helping the reader understand his true emotions as it’s written in first person, ‘I was six when I first saw kittens drown’ this personalises the almost cadaverous euthanasia to the child, whilst emphasising the certitude of the kittens lifespan. However in ‘Midterm Break’ Heaney is slightly further along in the transition process to manhood, this results in the death not being presented as something quite so barbaric, but as a more regular event, sort of ironic. This is supported by the title which implies something routine and mundane yet it’s something which requires close emotional and psychological support. These different ways of presenting the situation of death are what allows the stylistic features to be different. A technique Heaney uses in both poems is to create a sense of cruel irony, or to make ambiguous joke phrases which could be perceived as insensitive, for example in ‘The Early Purges’ when he says ‘the scraggy wee shits’ This implies his total disregard for the animal’s life which to Heaney who is here represented by a small child is totally horrifying as he (Dan Taggart) uses slang to actually state the disdain he has for their existence, however in ‘Midterm Break’ when