I'd like a break right now...

In Mid-Term Break, by Seamus Heaney, Heaney uses a somber tone and the reference to old and young/ big and small to describe the theme of separation and distance he feels towards his family. He uses references like "baby" and "old men" in the second stanza, describing both extremes of life and not really placing where he stands. The funeral occuring in this poem is noticeably of his younger brothers and being away at college, "I was the eldest, Away at school..." he feels very distant from the rest of his family because he's been gone for quite a while. The theme of separation is also seen when he describes the people at his house for the funeral as "strangers" and even identifies his own younger brother as a "corpse" rather than stating his name showing how distant he feels towards a family member,"I saw him For the first time in six weeks. Paler now..."
The theme is also represented in the diction used and how in each stanza, there are many cuts or breaks in the sentence when going to the next stanza, like for instance, "...as my mother held my hand/ In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs." This break in the stanza shows his disconnectioin with his own mother. Heaney presents his emotions of the event in a very somber tone. He doesn't clearly let the reader know how the author is feeling about the situation and creates a theme of separation ocurring during this funeral. He describes the death just as how it is, "I saw him For the first time in six weeks. Paler now, Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple, Hey lay in the four-foot box as in his cot." This shows clearly the separation and distance the author is feeling towards the family, because even at his own brothers funeral- he is unable to release emotion or feelings about the situation.