The quote in the opening stanza “Counting bells knelling classes to a close”, describes the school bells as knelling which suggests an atmosphere of uneasiness and worry. The use of onomatopoeia of ‘bells knelling’ also foreshadows the death or funeral of someone close to the narrator. Likewise, in the 2nd stanza, the imagery of his ‘father crying’ breaks down the patriarchal image of the father in the 50s and further emphasises the feeling of loss and grief. This also demonstrates the narrator’s feelings of confusion and anxiety. However, in the final 2 stanzas the mood is lifted as the narrator sees the body of the corpse of his younger brother. The use of assonance and repetition of ‘foot’ and ‘o’ in “a four-foot box, a foot for each year”, highlights the young age of his brother and brutality of reality. The poet uses full rhyme in the last lines of the poem to bring the poem to a closure reminding the audience of the impacts of death on the family and how quick it is to die. Thus, Seamus Heaney, highlights the idea of discovery of the brutality of the world through the narrators past experience of loss of his younger
The quote in the opening stanza “Counting bells knelling classes to a close”, describes the school bells as knelling which suggests an atmosphere of uneasiness and worry. The use of onomatopoeia of ‘bells knelling’ also foreshadows the death or funeral of someone close to the narrator. Likewise, in the 2nd stanza, the imagery of his ‘father crying’ breaks down the patriarchal image of the father in the 50s and further emphasises the feeling of loss and grief. This also demonstrates the narrator’s feelings of confusion and anxiety. However, in the final 2 stanzas the mood is lifted as the narrator sees the body of the corpse of his younger brother. The use of assonance and repetition of ‘foot’ and ‘o’ in “a four-foot box, a foot for each year”, highlights the young age of his brother and brutality of reality. The poet uses full rhyme in the last lines of the poem to bring the poem to a closure reminding the audience of the impacts of death on the family and how quick it is to die. Thus, Seamus Heaney, highlights the idea of discovery of the brutality of the world through the narrators past experience of loss of his younger