Death of a Naturalist Flashcards
(9 cards)
About
Heaney depicts a young boy’s fascination with frogspawn which transforms into disillusionment when he is confronted with the harsh realities of nature. Heaney’s poem examines the loss of childhood innocence and wonder
Language
Colloquial, sensory language: creates a vivid, almost overwhelming childhood world (“bubbles gargled delicately”).
Violent, military language later in the poem (“invaded”, “grenades”) shows how the speaker’s view of nature changes to something threatening.
Onomatopoeia and harsh sounds mimic the environment (croaking, slobbering).
Semantic field of disgust: words like “sweltered”, “rotted”, “slap”, “blunt” create an intense, almost grotesque image of nature.
Structure
Two-part structure:
First half = innocence and wonder.
Second half = fear and loss of innocence.
Volta (turning point): around halfway, when the tone shifts dramatically.
Enjambment: sentences flow across lines, capturing the overwhelming flood of memory and emotion.
Uneven rhythm: reflects the messy, uncontrollable forces of nature and the speaker’s growing discomfort.
Imagery
Childhood wonder imagery: colourful, lively descriptions of the flax-dam and tadpoles suggest excitement and curiosity.
Decay imagery: heat and rot are used to foreshadow the later horror.
War imagery: adult fear is expressed through metaphors of battle and invasion.
Animalistic imagery: frogs become monstrous, almost unnatural — “coarse croaking” and “gross-bellied” turn familiar creatures into sources of fear.
‘Bubbles gargled delicately’
Onomatopoeia (“gargled”) captures the playful, messy sounds of the environment.
“Delicately” suggests an innocent, childlike appreciation of nature.
Heaney uses rich sensory detail to recreate the intense, overwhelming experience of childhood wonder.
‘Warm thick slobber of frogspawn’
“Slobber” is grotesque and almost animalistic, giving a sense of messiness and bodily fluids.
Contrasts with the childish excitement — early signs of underlying disgust.
Even in early wonder, there are hints of repulsion, foreshadowing the later horror.
‘The air was thick with a bass chorus’
'’Bass chorus” uses musical metaphor to describe the frogs’ deep croaking.
“Thick” again suggests oppressiveness.
Nature becomes loud, inescapable, and almost suffocating — moving away from childhood awe to overwhelming fear.
‘Poised like mud grenades’
Simile: frogs are compared to weapons, suggesting violence and threat.
“Poised” implies readiness to attack — a total reversal of earlier harmlessness.
Heaney uses war imagery to show how nature, once beautiful, now seems aggressive and menacing.
‘I sickened, turned and ran’
Tricolon (list of three actions) emphasises panic and physical reaction.
“Sickened” shows deep emotional and bodily repulsion.
The speaker’s instinctive fear symbolises the loss of childish innocence — a rite of passage into adulthood.
