Mid-Term Break by Seamus Heaney and Poem for My Sister by Liz Lochead

Explain The Feelings Of The Two Poets Towards Their Younger Brother Or Sister In the poems ‘Mid-term Break’ by Seamus Heaney and ‘Poem for My Sister’ by Liz Lochhead feelings about a younger sibling are expressed. In ‘Poem for My Sister’ Liz Lochhead uses shoes and feet as a metaphor for life and experiences. ‘My little sister likes to try my shoes’ seems to echo the well known saying ‘put yourself in someone else’s shoes’ meaning in their place. This shows that her sister likes to try out being in the same position as Lochhead: as an adult. “She says they fit perfectly, but wobbles on their high heels, they’re hard to balance” shows that Lochhead’s sister wants the shoes to fit but isn’t steady in them, meaning that although she wishes to be an adult she isn’t ready yet. Her success in childhood, and how comfortable she is in her own skin is suggested by: “I like to watch my little sister playing hopscotch, admire the neat hops-and-skips of her their quick peck, never-missing their mark, not over-stepping the line. She is competent at peever.” This shows how good Lochhead’s sister is at being a child, and, contrasted with the image of her stumbling and wobbling in high heeled shoes, how unstable she would be if she took on the characteristics of an adult at this time. Lochhead seems fearful that if her sister grows up too soon then she will make mistakes, as Lochhead herself did. “I try to warn my little sister about unsuitable shoes, point out my own distorted feet, the callouses, odd patches of hard skin. I should not like to see her In my shoes.” This extract explains Lochhead’s fears and regrets about her own life, and shows the reader that she wants to stop her sister from making the same mistakes. “my own distorted feet, the callouses, odd patches of hard skin” represent the effect of the “unsuitable shoes” on Lochhead, and the consequences that her sister may have to face if she grows up too quickly. Liz Lochhead’s feelings seem to be very maternal and protective, and she appears to be trying to use her own experiences as an example to set to her little sister of how not to grow up. In ‘Mid-term Break’ Seamus Heaney reflects on the death of his brother. Heaney’s feelings towards his brother change gradually throughout the three parts that the poem can be divided into, the first part consisting of the first stanza. “I sat all morning in the college sick bay Counting bells knelling class to a close. At two o’clock our neighbours drove me home.” In this part Heaney seems fixated with the “knelling” of the bell, and the way in which it hails the beginning and end of the lessons, which could be a metaphor for the way that Heaney’s brother has been brought in to the world and then taken from it; a knell being a funeral bell. The knelling is emphasised by the alliteration of the “c” which echoes the sound of the bell in “Counting bells knelling classes to a close.” This part of the poem seems to deal with a widely known stage of grief – denial, which is also echoed in the second part. Heaney seems to deny his brother’s life ever happened, and cuts off his memories. The second part of the poem can by defined by the next four stanzas. In this section the reader is shown several images that show Heaney’s isolation from the rest of his family. The images that reflect Heaney’s alienation most are that of his mother’s “angry tearless sighs” and the way his father is displaying his grief: “In the porch I met my father crying-- He had always taken funerals in his stride--” Heaney’s reactions to the death are completely different to those of his parents, and he seems to feel out of place. Heaney seems to be able to identify most with the baby, that, at the time, “cooed and laughed and rocked the pram”, as it too is out of place and isolated from the anguish and grief of the rest of the family. Heaney