This is an analysis of the poem Mid-Term Break that begins with:

I sat all morning in the college sick bay
Counting bells knelling classes to a close....

Elements of the verse: questions and answers

The information we provided is prepared by means of a special computer program. Use the criteria sheet to understand greatest poems or improve your poetry analysis essay.

  • Rhyme scheme: XXa Xbc Xdb Xdb ebe Xac XdfXf
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 3,3,3,3,3,3,5,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 11110001011 1011010001 1101110111 0011111010 111110100001 111101001011 0101111101 1110111010 1111010111 11110101110 10011011010 01111110111 0011110101 1101010001 00111101010 110111000110 1101011111 1011011101 10010110110 11001111001 1101010111 01110111001
  • Amount of stanzas: 8
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 119
  • Average number of words per stanza: 23
  • Amount of lines: 22
  • Average number of symbols per line: 43 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 9
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and, my, in are repeated.

    The poet repeated the same word hand at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

If you write a school or university poetry essay, you should Include in your explanation of the poem:

  • summary of Mid-Term Break;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Seamus Heaney