Death of a Naturalist Flashcards
(10 cards)
What is this poem about ?
The poem opens with some rich description of a swampy area where flax (a kind of plant) grows. Heaney describes the flies buzzing, and how the sun beats down on the mucky soil. He pays particular attention to the slimy frogspawn (what eventually becomes tadpoles, then frogs). This sparks a memory for the speaker, and he begins to talk about how in school, his teacher had students collect the gooey frogspawn in jars to watch it turn to tadpoles as part of a science lesson about frogs.
Then we’re snapped into the present. One hot, steamy and stinky day, the speaker follows the sound of croaking frogs to its source. He sees more frogs than he’s ever seen amongst the frogspawn (no, this is not a scene from a horror movie). They’re croaking and slapping in the flax dam. Not surprisingly, hegets grossed out-so much so that he freaks out and runs away.
What is the structure of Death of a Naturalist ?
In the first stanza, the speaker in the poem is full of enthusiasm and
enjoys nature.
In the last stanza, this changes as he becomes more aware of the dangers
of the world around him.
When was it published ?
1966
What in the context ?
- Seamus Heaney’s four year old brother died in a car accident when Heaney was a young boy. The death affected him badly and many of his poems are about loss of innocence.
- Heaney grew up on a farm and many of his poems reflect his upbringing.
- Despite having a foot both sides of the border, Heaney has resolutely
identified himself as Irish
-Heaney went on to study English at Queen’s University Belfast before
training as a teacher
What are the possible themes and links ?
Loss of innocence - Afternoons
Childhood memories - Excerpt from The Prelude
Passing of time - As Imperceptibly as Grief, Excerpt from The Prelude and To Autumn
What does the title mean “Death of a Natuarlist” ?
The “Death” means the loss of childhood innocence
How do you know the writer was a child in the first stanza and that is why the beginning of the poem starts of more enthusiastic?
The poem starts of enthusiastic because he starts by describing vile and disgusting verbs such as “sweltered”, “festered”
and “gargled” which he is relishing in due to the fact he is a young child with intense curiosity
What does language such as “jampotfuls”, “fattening dots” and “mammy frog” suggest ?
Childhood innocence - since he is talking about filling up “jampotfuls” of “fattening dots “ and how his teacher “Miss Wall” would teach them about, showing that he is still in school.
“Mammy Frog” also shows his proud Irish heritage, “considering he has both feet across the border”
How do we know that the speaker’s view on the frogs have changed and he has grown up ?
We know we have gordon up since he said “Then one hot day” showing that the tone has changed and it has maturated and it is less enthusiastic and we know the speaker has changed his views on the frogs wehem he says “I sickened, turned and ran”, this is an immediate contrast from the enthusiasm from stave one and it suggest he is now aware of the danger of the “hot day” and the “angry frogs”
How else do we see a contrast from the courageous child he used to be to the mature adult he is ?
In the beginning he talks about collecting “jampots full of the jellied specks” not he says “spawn would clutch it”. This shows the obvious view change on the throught and how he went from confident to cautious
