A) What are the persona's feelings in the first five stanzas of this poem? Explain how the poet described these feelings through the careful choice of words used.
Ans: The persona was in grief and felt awkward. The poet describes these sad feelings carefully with the choice of words used.
When the poet heard that his brother was knocked down by a car and was dead, he could not rush back immediately from his college and had to wait for his neighbours to come and fetch him home. Thus, he was sad he could not see his dead brother immediately. As the poet entered the house, there were many old men who stood up and shook his hand, hence he felt awkward by their actions. Also, everybody looked solemn, in contrast to the baby's laughing, and cooing.
The persona was also unfeeling towards his brother's death in the first five stanzas. He showed little emotion when he entered the house and did not rushed to see his dead brother as quickly as he could. Furthermore, he referred his dead brother as a 'corpse', which shows that he did not cared about his brother's death as referring to a dead body as a 'corpse' meant that they had no connection with each other.
Therefore, from the first five stanzas of the poem, I can see that the persona was in grief of not getting back early and was awkward when the old men shook his hand and told him that they were 'sorry for the trouble' as he had to rushed back from college. The persona was also unfeeling and did not show concern to his brother's death in the first five stanzas by showing few actions and emotions.
B) How does the use of literary devices describe the mood in this poem?
Ans: The poet made used of literary devices such as alliteration, onomatopoeia and metaphors to bring out the mood in this poem, which is sadness.
Firstly, the poet used alliteration emphasize the mood in this poem. 'He lay in the four foot box as in his cot'. The alliteration used on the letter 'f' helps emphasize how very small the child is, and has sad impact on the reader. The poet speaks of his dead brother as if it has not fully realized he is dead, in the way in which the poet compares the coffins to the child in the cot. The fact the child can see his brother in his cot, creates deep load of sadness, when we know the child is dead.
Next, the poet used onomatopoeia. The poet was counting the bells that knelled 'classes to a close'. The word 'knelling' are usually used for funeral bells, not for class bells. Funerals are sad occasions when a family loses a family member due to death. Hence, knelling shows the grief the family is experiencing when the persona's brother died. Words such as “cooed,” “whispers,” “coughed,” and “knocked” are also used to express emotion within the poem.
Finally, the poet used metaphors to describe the mood of the poem.The phrase “wearing a poppy bruise” helps to create an image because even though we know the dead child is not literally wearing a poppy bruise we can imagine what the bruise would look like. This can also suggest that it is like the World War 1 because at the end of that the first plants to re-grow were the poppies. Also, the title 'Mid-Term Break' suggests a holiday from the school, however, in this poem, the work 'break' also indicates a 'break' in one's life.
Hence, through the three literary devices used in the poem, the poet brings out the sadness in the poem.
