Answer

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.

Heaney, in the second stanza, 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.