Comparative Essay Heaney-Clarke

... English Coursework Comparative Essay In 'Mid-Term Break' Seamus Heaney writes about a painful memory. Compare this poem with two others from this collection in which poets write about memories. Include one poem by Gillian Clarke and one poem from the Pre-1914 Bank. The painful memory that Seamus Heaney writes about is his brother's death and funeral and how it affects his family and social life. Gillian Clarke's poem is not about a painful memory but is more about the wonder of "inherited" memory (a memory which is passed down through the generations like a story) her poem though like Seamus Heaney's is about near death and its effects, even though Gillian Clarke is of no relation to the girl who nearly drowned, she is only included once her mother interferes. Ben Johnson is another painful memory and like the other two poems is about death, the death of his first born son.

want to read more? →