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December 1, 2011
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Mid-Term Break by Seamus Heaney

I sat all morning in the college sick bay
Counting bells knelling classes to a close.
At two o'clock our neighbors drove me home.

In the porch I met my father crying--
He had always taken funerals in his stride--
And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.

The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram
When I came in, and I was embarrassed
By old men standing up to shake my hand

And tell me they were "sorry for my trouble,"
Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,
Away at school, as my mother held my hand

In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.
At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived
With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.

Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops
And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him
For the first time in six weeks. Paler now,

Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple,
He lay in the four foot box as in his cot.
No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.

A four foot box, a foot for every year.
  • Listening to: Lyric FM
  • Reading: Nothing
  • Watching: Nothing
  • Playing: Nothing
  • Eating: Nothing
  • Drinking: Nothing
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:icongeminiliam:
Seamus Heaney writes in a way that that touches the soul, I have been at such funerals, been among those people and there is not a word misplaced in this beautiful piece. Glad you put it up Mike :-)
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:iconsolus-photography:
Nice one Liam, it's always moved me too, thanks for commenting :)
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:iconjustjimandwendy:
I can only judge the power of words on how they affect me after I have finished reading them all. And I got goosebumps. Few more powerful than that.

Jim
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:iconsolus-photography:
It sure speaks for itself, thanks for feeding back Jim glad you liked it.
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:iconconundra:
This poem is so quietly powerful. It overstates nothing, just curls around your heart in an understated way, then stops it cold with the last line.

Reading this made me sad in a very deep, resounding way. Not the kind of sadness that brings tears to a person's eyes, but the kind that leaves you hollow
and I think that speaks to the incredible skill of the writer
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:iconsolus-photography:
Yes it's very stark and powerful and you'd have to be made of stone not to be moved by it. Glad you liked it. Thanks for commenting.
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:iconconundra:
You're welcome. It's hard to know what to say after reading a poem like this one, but I had to say something.
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:iconyoungoldguy:
So sad, so touching and so well worded, it gives you to rise and actually be there in your mind.

Beautiful
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:iconsolus-photography:
Yep! Thanks for feeding back, best regards :)
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