mid term break
...“I was embarrassed by old men standing up to shake my hand and tell me they were sorry for my trouble”. From analysing this quote we discover that Seamus Heaney was embarrassed by old men standing up to shake his hand. He would have been embarrassed because at that time children were only to be seen and not heard. As it was rude to be in the same room as adults when they were talking, so you would have been sent out to play with your friends or into your room to read a book. The effect of the cliché “sorry for my trouble” is that its what everyone says to you at a funeral or a similar kind of event which gives us the suggestion that the old men were trying to comfort and conciliate Seamus Heaney by paying their respects. Another example of this intense emotional experience Seamus Heaney took part in was when his younger brothers body arrived at the family home. “At ten o’clock the ambulance arrived with the corpse staunched and bandaged by the nurses” from perceiving this quote we learn that Seamus Heaney’s younger brother’s body arrived at the family home in an ambulance. The word “Ambulance” can be related to the almost distant tone of the poem. The words “Corpse” and “Ambulance” seem to have an impersonal feel to them like a newspaper report has. The word “Ambulance” also has a sharp sound to it. The word “Staunched” means when a body is stuffed after the death of that person to stop their insides from leaking out of the body in liquid form. This effective with regard to the reader because it shows us what happens to our bodies after death. After death we are not in our bodies anymore because our spirits have gone to heaven, so the body therefore becomes an empty corpse. Another reason which makes you wonder why Seamus Heaney wrote this poem is when he describes the moment he went up to his little brothers room to see him for the first time in six weeks. “Next morning I went up into the room, snowdrops and candles soothed the bedside” from inspecting this quote we learn that Seamus Heaney was devastated about the loss of his younger brother. Seamus Heaney has described the snowdrops and candles soothed the bedside very well in the way that it changes the atmosphere from a cold and icy mood to a calming and relaxed mood. I think Seamus Heaney chose to use these words because they reflect the purity and innocence of his little brother. This is effective because it shows the reader how innocent Seamus Heaney’s little brother really was and how he was only a young boy when he died. A technique used to convey the result of an intense emotional experience is when Seamus Heaney describes the first time he saw his younger brother for the first time since he went away to school and the condition that his younger brothers body was in. “ I saw him for the first time in six weeks, paler now wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple” from grasping this quote we learn that Seamus Heaney was very distressed and tormented to see his little brother in that kind of condition. The “poppy bruise” on his younger brothers forehead symbolizes that his little brother must have had a very peaceful and fearless death because the poppy is the flower that usually symbolizes the death of all the brave soldiers who died fighting for their country in the world war. Seamus Heaney also describes that his younger brother looked paler than usual so from judging this statement we can come to the conclusion that his younger brother was a happy and cheerful little boy. Another intense emotional experience Seamus Heaney describes is when he describes the fact that his younger brother did not have any gaudy scars when he was killed and the way he lay in his coffin as though it were his cot. “He lay in a four foot box as he did in his cot, no gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear” from investigating this quote we learn that Seamus Heaney’s younger brother must have been a peaceful sleeper. His younger brother had a small coffin as he was only a toddler when he died. Seamus Heaney uses the words “gaudy scars” which he did not have, but gives the effect that it was as if he had severe bruises from the accident. Seamus Heaney also uses the words “the bumper knocked him clear” gives the effect of suggesting to us that his younger brother was knocked down by a moving vehicle. In this quote there is a sense of restraint as things are only stated and no emotion or feeling is shown. A final technique used to describe the result of an intense emotional experience is when Seamus Heaney compares the size of his younger brother’s coffin with his younger brother’s age. “A Four Fo...