Carrickfergus (poem)

In November 1907 MacNeice's father, John MacNeice, was appointed Rector of St Nicholas' Church, Carrickfergus, and in January 1909 the family moved to Carrickfergus, a town ten miles from Belfast on the northern shore of Belfast Lough: Thence to Smoky Carrick in County Antrim Where the bottle-neck harbour collects the mud which jams

"Its front door opened on the street, the farther side of which was flanked by the harbour wall, so that in rough weather spray would lash the windows.

"[2] In early 1911 the MacNeices moved into Carrickfergus Rectory, a large house with a garden, "far from the dirt and noise of the harbour, on the other side of town.

"[3] Here Louis MacNeice spent his childhood until, at the age of ten, he began at Sherborne Preparatory School, Dorset: I went to school in Dorset, the world of parents Contracted into a puppet world of sons[1] In "Carrickfergus", MacNeice reflects on his childhood growing up in Carrickfergus.

MacNeice makes use of poetic devices such as assonance – "the clang of trams" – and alliteration – "sweat and khaki in the Carlisle train".