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    Bye Child Presentation

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    zoe030592
    The poem "Bye-Child" by Seamus Heaney is based on the true story of a young boy neglected by his parents who confined him to a henhouse. Heaney uses vivid imagery and references to the five senses to describe the boy's frail and inhuman condition. Animal metaphors are employed to portray the boy's neglect and suffering. Through a structured six stanza form and emotive language, the poem gives voice to the pain and cruelty endured by the neglected child.

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    Bye Child Presentation

    Uploaded by

    zoe030592
    531 views9 pages
    The poem "Bye-Child" by Seamus Heaney is based on the true story of a young boy neglected by his parents who confined him to a henhouse. Heaney uses vivid imagery and references to the five senses to describe the boy's frail and inhuman condition. Animal metaphors are employed to portray the boy's neglect and suffering. Through a structured six stanza form and emotive language, the poem gives voice to the pain and cruelty endured by the neglected child.

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    The poem "Bye-Child" by Seamus Heaney is based on the true story of a young boy neglected by his parents who confined him to a henhouse. Heaney uses vivid imagery and references to the five senses to describe the boy's frail and inhuman condition. Animal metaphors are employed to portray the boy's neglect and suffering. Through a structured six stanza form and emotive language, the poem gives voice to the pain and cruelty endured by the neglected child.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    531 views9 pages

    Bye Child Presentation

    Uploaded by

    zoe030592
    The poem "Bye-Child" by Seamus Heaney is based on the true story of a young boy neglected by his parents who confined him to a henhouse. Heaney uses vivid imagery and references to the five senses to describe the boy's frail and inhuman condition. Animal metaphors are employed to portray the boy's neglect and suffering. Through a structured six stanza form and emotive language, the poem gives voice to the pain and cruelty endured by the neglected child.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
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    Bye-Child

    Seamus Heaney
    The Story Behind ‘Bye-Child’
    ‘Bye-Child’ is a poem written by Seamus Heaney
    featured in his ‘Wintering Out’ selection. It
    was also then developed into a film.
    The poem is based on a true story of a young
    boy neglected by his parents, who confined
    him to a henhouse in the back yard.
    When he was discovered he was incapable of
    saying anything at all.
    When the lamp glowed, We don’t know who ‘they’ are
    yet, no names are mentioned,
    A yolk of light
    In their back window,
    The child in the outhouse Chink – a small
    narrow opening
    Put his eye to a chink --

    Almost like a cruel


    nickname. Possible
    given by the media? Little henhouse boy,
    Simile – idea of his face being Sharp-faced as new moons
    like the moon, conveys the idea
    that the boys face is pale Remembered, your photo still

    Simile – a rodent on the floor of Glimpsed like a rodent


    their mind relates back to the
    boys living conditions, possibly On the floor of my mind
    rodents running around
    Another cruel name, also suggesting a pale face,
    Little moon man, due to illness? Alliteration of ‘moon man’

    Kennelled and faithful Animal imagery – like a dog


    Triple – appeal to readers emotions about the
    At the foot of the yard, boys condition, ‘frail’, ‘luminous’, ‘weightless’

    Your frail shape, luminous, Idea of this triple could be the


    idea that he is a ghost. As
    Weightless, is stirring the dust, though he doesn’t exist.

    Imagery of terrible living conditions, appeal


    to readers emotions

    The cobwebs, old droppings


    5 senses – 1) ‘dry smells’ - smell
    2) ‘scraps’ – taste Under the roosts
    3) ‘cobwebs, old droppings’
    – what you see And dry smells from scraps
    She put through your trapdoor
    imagery – fed through a trapdoor
    like an animal or prisoner Morning and evening.
    5 senses – 4) ‘footsteps, silence;’ – what you hear

    A period of time,
    especially at night, Period of
    when you stay After those footsteps, silence; time where
    quietly in one place you don’t eat
    Vigils, solitudes, fasts, food

    To do with fear of Unchristened tears, State of being


    something alone
    approaching, A puzzled love of the light.
    connecting to the As though he
    footsteps and silence doesn’t know
    But now you speak at last what it is

    Due to his limited language. Was Lives in the


    this when he was discovered, or dark, relate to
    him standing up for himself, or a dark life?
    crying in fear?
    Enjambment between stanza’s
    With a remote mime
    Of something beyond patience,
    Your gasping wordless proof
    Of lunar distances
    Travelled beyond love.
    Beginnings
    • About a real life situation, young boy neglected
    by parents, and confided him to a henhouse.
    • Heaney enters the life and situation of the boy to
    give voice to his suffering.
    • Main themes – pain, cruelty, neglect and family
    relationships.
    • Spends little time looking at the mother or her
    motives and focuses on the boy, this teases the
    audience as they want to know more.
    Rhetoric
    • No rhyme
    • Alliteration – ‘little moon man’ (3rd stanza)
    • Talks about 4 of the 5 senses

    Manner
    • Tone/Mood – negative and sinister. Appeals to
    audiences emotions and makes them feel
    sorry for the boy.
    Metaphor
    • Uses a lot of animal imagery regarding the
    boy, this shows neglect and disregard for him
    as a human and a child.
    • Heaney describes him as an inhuman
    creature, lurking in the dark.
    • Uses similes such as ‘sharp-faced as new
    moons’ (2nd stanza)
    Form
    • 6 stanzas, each 5 lines.
    • Formal and structured layout.

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