'A four foot box...'
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'A four foot box...'
'...a foot for every year'.
DS1 and I came home a short time ago from a spot of lunch and shopping to find Seamus Heaney's poem 'Mid Term Break' being read out on Radio 4. I can't say that I'm the biggest fan of Heaney, or of much poetry in general (
, I know. Sorry.), but this piece brings me up short every time. Similarly the second movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, Dido's Lament and Christina Rosetti's Song. The first time I heard the Beethoven, I was driving and just had to pull over and stop to listen to it. (Fortunately it was quite early on a Sunday morning and few other drivers in the particular bit of south east London through which I was driving were up and about at the time 
) .
DS1 and I came home a short time ago from a spot of lunch and shopping to find Seamus Heaney's poem 'Mid Term Break' being read out on Radio 4. I can't say that I'm the biggest fan of Heaney, or of much poetry in general (
, I know. Sorry.), but this piece brings me up short every time. Similarly the second movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, Dido's Lament and Christina Rosetti's Song. The first time I heard the Beethoven, I was driving and just had to pull over and stop to listen to it. (Fortunately it was quite early on a Sunday morning and few other drivers in the particular bit of south east London through which I was driving were up and about at the time ) .
Last edited by ToadMum on Thu Sep 08, 2016 6:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
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kenyancowgirl
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Re: 'A four foot box...'
+1.....I studied Heaney (and actually quite like him...a friend of mine knew him so I got to "interview" him!) But 4 foot box in particular puts a lump in my throat.
Re: 'A four foot box...'
A very poignant poem indeed... 
Thanks for sharing , Toadmum! 
Thanks for sharing , Toadmum! -
Daogroupie
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Re: 'A four foot box...'
It is even more unbearable because it is actually true.
It was his younger brother Christopher who was hit by a car at the age of four.
It has in the past been part of the GCSE syllabus but not sure they can really understand all the bit about adults just not knowing what to say unless they have been through loss themselves.
It is such a wonderful example of the power of literature to impact you. I find it really sad when I hear of students hating English.
English is about our human experience and sharing the pain and joy. DG
It was his younger brother Christopher who was hit by a car at the age of four.
It has in the past been part of the GCSE syllabus but not sure they can really understand all the bit about adults just not knowing what to say unless they have been through loss themselves.
It is such a wonderful example of the power of literature to impact you. I find it really sad when I hear of students hating English.
English is about our human experience and sharing the pain and joy. DG
Re: 'A four foot box...'
Daogroupie wrote: I find it really sad when I hear of students hating English.
I think what they usually mean is they hate English lessons - I had some terrible teachers that would suck the life out of anything we read by analysing it [from only their point of view] to death.
Re: 'A four foot box...'
I had much the same experience, with the added joy of having the teacher single me to read out loud in just about every lesson. I even kept a tally to check it wasn't my imagination. Being dyslexic, reading something I haven't seen before out loud is seriously not my idea of fun and not easy.Guest55 wrote:Daogroupie wrote: I find it really sad when I hear of students hating English.
I think what they usually mean is they hate English lessons - I had some terrible teachers that would suck the life out of anything we read by analysing it [from only their point of view] to death.
Re: 'A four foot box...'
It was on 'Open Country' this afternoon. The girl talking about it was fantastic. Well worth a listen.
Re: 'A four foot box...'
Thanks - I turned the radio on after the programme had started. I think the girl said that she went to the same school? I may have misheard that, though.RedVelvet wrote:It was on 'Open Country' this afternoon. The girl talking about it was fantastic. Well worth a listen.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
Re: 'A four foot box...'
Yes she did. There were lots of local people interviewed, including a teacher who was one of the first to start teaching Heany in the 1980s.
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PettswoodFiona
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Re: 'A four foot box...'
Hating and finding the empathy/message/content difficult or discordant are often confused in Literature and Prose. I used to think I hated Sylvi Plath. I think I still do as I believe her method of conveying the message never really resonated with me and I still blame her for my dislike of any lampshade, however I do respect her ability to have conveyed something so thoroughly awful to me that it has stuck with me to this very day.
