Analysis

This poem deals with the death of a young child, who is only 4 years old and how Heaney, as a child, reacts to this event.

 In the opening stanza Heaney, as a child, is waiting in the sick bay at school to be taken home. There is a sense of boredom as he counts the bells waiting for classes to end. It is as if he doesn’t really understand what is going on and would rather be in class.

The second stanza finds Heaney back at home, seeing his father crying, which is surprising as ‘he had always taken funerals in his stride’.

‘The baby cooed and laughed’ shows the lack of understanding, it seems it is the adults who are most upset and the baby, innocent of all knowledge, reacts normally, life goes on.

 Heaney, too, is embarrassed by the way ‘old men’ come to shake his hand and say they are ‘sorry for my trouble’ showing his lack of comprehension.

There is a sense of quiet throughout, with ‘whispers’ ‘tearless sighs’ as a reverence for the dead. At this point it is still unclear who has died.

In the fifth stanza the corpse arrives in an ambulance. It all seems quite clinical and emotionless here with the line ‘stanched and bandaged by nurses’ reflecting Heaney’s lack of emotion or understanding as a boy.

In the sixth stanza he goes up to the room full of flowers and candles ‘snowdrops’ a white flower representing purity, which is appropriate given the age of the dead boy.

We are finally given a sense of identity here with ‘him’ mentioned. Heaney describes him as ‘paler now’ than when he last saw him, six weeks previously.

The penultimate stanza describes him in more detail with a ‘poppy bruise on his left temple’ poppy a flower associated with the dead and the red colour accurately reflecting the colour of blood and a bruise. His bed is described using a simile ‘as in is cot’ to describe the bed like a child’s cot as it is so small and he is so young.

It is likely that the boy is a young relative of Heaney’s, although this is not clarified. It could be a younger brother. We learn the cause of death is a road accident as ‘the bumper knocked him clear’.

The final line emphasises how tragic the event is as the coffin is so small, showing the youth of the victim. The stanza is only one line and nine words long to place a clear emphasis on how tragic and shocking the event is