Death of a Naturalist Flashcards
(12 cards)
Thesis for nature/change/time
In Death of a Naturalist, Seamus Heaney uses the poem as a vehicle to explore his evolving relationship with nature over time, shifting from fascination to fear.
Growing up in Northern Ireland, Heaney developed a deep connection to nature, but this bond begins to shift as his sense of childhood is irrevocably altered. The poem serves as Heaney’s exploration of how his perception of nature transformed from fascination to fear, mirroring the loss of his youthful innocence.
thesis for childhood/man/loss
In Death of a Naturalist, Seamus Heaney uses the poem to reflect on his childhood and the loss of innocence and wonder that follows the death of his brother.
Growing up in Northern Ireland, Heaney developed a deep connection to nature, but this bond begins to shift as his sense of childhood is irrevocably altered. The poem serves as Heaney’s exploration of how his perception of nature transformed from fascination to fear, mirroring the loss of his youthful innocence.
rough essay plan
start: observations of nature
middle: childhood love and fascination
end: fear and disgust of nature
quote 1
festered in the heart
noun ‘heart’ been used to personify the townland, also shows that because the flax-dam is at the townland’s heart, it’s important to the community and persona
shows nature and man seem to live in symbiosis
quote 2
flax had rotted there
verbs of ‘rotted’ and ‘festered’ are in the semantic field of death and decay
used in a literal and natural way, by having language relating to death early in the poem, heaney foreshadowing the eventual metaphorical death of the poem’s eponymous naturalist
quote 3
daily, it sweltered in the punishing sun
man and nature live in symbiosis
however verb ‘sweltered’ and adjective ‘punishing’ suggests that nature is sometimes at war with itself
confrontational tone shows that although poem is mainly positive about nature, its potential threat is recognised in the early stages of the poem, and foreshadows the poem’s warlike ending
quote 4
dragonflies, spotted butterflies
the reference to nature imagery evoke a powerful picture in the reader’s mind
all of this nature imagery in a short space creates a high image density suggesting that nature is alive and thriving
persona is fascinated by it as it notices so many of its aspects
quote 5
jampotfuls of the jellied
the alliteration makes the persona’s passions seem natural
linguistically ‘jampotfuls’ is a made up, pluralised word which further emphasises persona’s passion
quote 7
In Rain…Then
‘rain’ has negative connotations, through mentioning it, heaney hints at something negative on the poem’s horizon which is likely the metaphorical death in the next stanza
‘then’ marks a change in time and marks a specific event that the persona may wish to explain
there’s a change in tone, the poem is more serious now and has seemed to have discarded its youthful innocence
considered the volta
quote 6
Miss Walls
and how he croaked and how the mammy frog
‘mammy’ and ‘Miss Walls’ makes it clear persona is young and irish
children have a habit of repeating what their teachers tell them, taking their word for gospel (naivety and innocence of persona)
children also call male and female animals mummy and daddy
mammy used in Ireland
repition of ‘and’ mimics speech pattern of young children and shows persona’s enthusiasm and passion for nature, their knowledge is practically spilling out of them and their sentences seem to never end
quote 8
were cocked
verb ‘cocked’ has hard consonance which draws attention to the line
imagery of war which adds to the confrontational tone ad suggests now the child and frogs are enemies
the persona feels threatened by the frogs, the croaking of the frogs was something that once soothed him, but now they unsettle him
quote 9
the spawn would clutch it
final nightmarish image suggests that the change undergone by the persona from loving to fearing nature is permanent and that they will never love nature again
