Theme of "Mid-Term Break" by Seamus Heaney

In my perspective, a theme that can be found in "Mid-Term Break", which is a poem by Seamus Heaney, is that you face obstacles, challenges or hard times when you grow up.

In actuality, the poem is recalling a real, and mournful event that happened to the author himself, which is when his younger brother died due to a car crash. Throughout the poem, you can feel the depressing mood the author has over this tragic incident he and his family has to go through while he himself was still growing up/maturing. Mr. Heaney uses irony to develop the gloomy mood of the poem.

An example of how he uses irony in his poem, is by comparing what the whole entire poem is actually about, and the title. When you read the title, you'd presumably think that the poem is generally going to be about joy, happiness and spending time with your friends while you're away at school. But for the people who has read this poem, we all know that the poem has a cruel plot twist: one where the author comes home from his boarding school, and finds out that he'll be starting his mid-term break with the funeral of his younger brother.This presents us with the fact that when you're living life and growing up, you will encounter hardship along the way- even if it is unexpected. Both the title and the context of the poem, fabricate the depressing mood that can be identified throughout the whole entire poem. And thus leading us to the theme, which is that you face hardships when you grow up.