Death of a Naturalist

• who wrote Death of a Naturalist?

  Seamus Heaney
• where was Heaney born and raised?

  rural Northern Ireland
• Heaney uses imagery to create an atmosphere of nostalgia and longing for childhood innocence.
• what did Heaney often talk about?

  nature and memory
• when was the poem written?

  the year Heaney became a father
• what occurred in Northern Island?

  a civil war which is referred to through the violent imagery
• what does the Title in Death of a Naturalist show?

  Death = may foreshadow the metaphorical " death " of the child's passion in nature

  Naturalist = someone who is fascinated and an expert in nature
• what does the words " festered " and " rotted " and " sweltered" show?


  relates to decay and death and foreshadow metaphorical death of naturalist
• personification ?

  " punishing sun " confrontational tone
• alliteration ?

  " heavy headed " may refer to the poem being a nursery rhyme which shows naive and innocence of children and youth
• oxymoron?

  " bubbles gargled delicately " sensory sounds sound appealing to children
• vivid imagery ?

  " bluebottles " , " dragonflies" , " butterflies " suggest fascination by nature
• childish language ?

  " thick slobber " naivety and innocence
• " jampotfuls of the jellied " alliteration + plural exemplifies passion and fascination
• imagery ?

  " fattening dots burst " suggest nature is alive
• " Miss Walls " ?


  children take adults words as gospel and absolute = naivety and trust
• " daddy frog " , " mammy frog " ?


  irish language shows youth and innocence and how parents preserve their innocence about sexual reproduction
• what does the repetition of " and " show?

  shows breathlessness = enthusiasm
• " coarse croaking " sensory sound may show that the child is unsettled and nervous
• what does the second stanza talk about ?

  As the child grows older , he becomes less innocent and realised nature is not so positive as the frogs become quite angry and violent towards him as he used to take their frogspawns
• " the air was thick with a bass chorus " nature is fearsome , strong and impendiable
• semantic field of war ?

  " cocked " , " mud grenades " , " obscene threats "
• onomatopoeia ?

  " slap and plop " the sounds are no longer appealing but rather disturbing
• rule of three

  " i sickened , turned and ran " uses quick succession of verbs highlights horror
• final line

  " if i dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it " signifies the end of childhood and that he will never love nature again to him
• personification

  " great slime kings " power of nature