Summary Irish Literature

Mid-term Break – Seamus Heaney (1939)
– Writes about theme’s in life
Poem about = dead, loss, sadness, feelings, grief

Seamus loses his 4 year old brother (Christopher), when he crossed the streets. Seamus is coping with his feelings. Title = Mid-term Break, the boy was taken out of school for a mid-term break, because something bad happened. Writing style = The writer describes what he sees/experiences. Not what he feels, he is observing (his parents, because the boy is very young)

– Emotional power derives in large measure from the fact that Heaney is very muted and understated with respect to his own emotional response => chooses to focus more upon reaction of parents, in order to convey shocking impact of death of little boy

Alliteration = Counting knelling classes close / four foot / foot for Rhyme = End rhyme => clear + year
Assonance = drove + home
Play on words = hard blow

Words
knelling = ringing church bell, someone died
sick bay = room, sanctuary

The boy is old enough to understand death, but not experienced enough to understand customs of funeral / describing events as if he travels a strange land

in his stride = deals with it calmly (inside), now shows emotions ‘sorry for my trouble’ = how people respond / react to dead In hers and coughed out angry tearless sights = Can’t show feelings yet Snowdrops = hang, sadness, white (heaven/peace), flowers in the room poppy bruise = klaproos, delicate, red

Four feet = four years, how long the brother lived

Irish Short story’s
The pedlar’s revenge
– Liam O’Flaherty 1896-1984

1. What do we learn about Old Paddy Moynihan from the story? Old Paddy Moynihan was 79 years old and a fat man. When he was young he bullied the Pedler. He didn’t had family, his wife died.

2. What is striking about Finnerty’s and Peter Lavin’s eye-witness accounts?

3. Mention some of the unusual and horrible details in the eye-witness accounts.

4. What is ivy, and what could it represent in Celtic culture? Ivy = klimop
In Celtic culture ivy means growth, renewel (vernieuwing), connection, friendship and opportunity.

5. Explain the title of the story.
At the end of the story the Padler laughed, he was now free he had took his revenge of Paddy and he had not caused any crime.

Summary:

Paddy Moynihan was found dead at the bottom of the ravine below blacksmith’s house. Everyone in the village stood around him. Paddy repeated ‘the pedlar poisoned me.” Anthony Gill saw Paddy walking out of Pedlar’s house and saw him in Pete Maloney’s shop to buy candles. In the past Paddy made fun of the Pedlar. Joe Finnerty was getting angry at Pedlar, because he was making false accusations. The pedlar talked about how he used the lack of courage of Paddy to get back to him.

When Joe had said he had seen Paddy in his house, the Padler told them what happened: he was cooking potatoes with bacon, Paddy burst into his house and asked if he had got bacon, the Pedlar lied. Paddy became angry so the Pedlar told him it was candles. Paddy died because he had eaten the candles.

The Padler laughed, he was now free of Paddy and he had not caused any crime.