Two deaths, and two families, but two worlds that are feeling the same emotion and loss. In “The Vacuum” by Howard Nemerov, and “Midterm Break” by Seamus Heaney both authors use the idea of death to create an image into their inner workings. The use of imagery and alliteration is depicted throughout both poems and location is welcomed.

Both authors equalize the playing field by describing the location within the first few stanzas. This helps to keep the idea of location from affecting the overall appearance and flow of the poems. A quite cul-de-sac “The Vacuum” by Howard Nemerov takes place in a home. The home appears to be filthy and have a silence in the air that won’t go away. The floors are also dirty “Eating the dust and the woolen mice, and begin to howl” (Nemerov 9-10) giving insight that because of his loss he may not clean as much as used …show more content…
The sadness and sorrow that is in the poem continues to resonate through the piece and focuses this. Nemerov uses three parts to transition through the poem, “The house is so quiet now” (Nemerov 1), “begin to howl” (Nemerov 10) and “Hangs on and howls, biting at air.” (Nemerov 15) This flow over the poem gives a sadness and sorrow that makes the reader feel the missing entity. “No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear. A four-foot box, a foot for every year.“ (Heaney 21-22) There is a bittersweet rhythm to this line. It comes at a cost, the flow moves and is poetic but the underlying sadness overwhelms it also. The tone is very sharp and conflicting in both poems and makes the reader feel uneasy, “biting at air” (Nemerov 15) is used to describe the howling but the dead can’t howl nor can they bite at air. Heaney doesn’t use such a conflicting description but instead says “I saw him for the first time in six weeks. Paler now,”(Heaney 17-18) as if he had a choice to which color he would be