Death of a Naturalist Flashcards
introduction
- In ‘Death of a Naturalist’ 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.
form
- written in free verse without a regular rhyme scheme reflecting the unstructured nature of childhood and this experience, adding to its intimate and conversational style
- two stanzas of unequal length
structure
- enjambment
- caesurae
finish the quote: ‘wait..
..and watch’
‘wait and watch’
- alliteration
- draws attention to how absorbed the persona is in their passion
finish the quote: ‘coarse…
…croaking’
‘coarse croaking’
- alliteration makes it stand out
- in order to reflect how the sound of the frogs stands out to the persona - making them feel unsettled, nervous and intimidated
repetition of ‘and’
- mimics the speech patterns of young children
- also shows the persona’s enthusiasm and passion
finish the quote: ‘jampotfuls…
…of the jellied’
‘jampotfuls of the jellied’
- alliteration - makes the persona’s passion seem natural - jellied substances belong in jam jars
- pluralisation - large quantities
finish the quote: ‘slap..
..and plop’
‘slap and plop’
- onomatopoeic words are called ‘threats’ - emphasising the idea of the sounds of the frogs being the thing that scares the persona
title
- ‘Death of a’ -> metaphorical - death of someone’s passion/interest in nature
finish the quote: ‘heart Of…
..the townland’
‘heart Of the townland’
- personification
- having the flax-dam is the townland’s heart - stresses its importance to the community
- nature and man seem to live in harmony
‘bluebottles’
‘dragon-flies’
‘spotted butterflies’
‘frogspawn’
- nature is alive and thriving and the persona is fascinated by it
finish the quote: ‘the air was thick..
..with a bass chorus’
‘the air was thick with a bass chorus’
- nature is strong, fearsome and impenetrable - frogs ganged up on persona
title - ‘Naturalist’
- an expert/student of nature
finish the quote: ‘great..
..Slime kings’
‘great Slime kings’
- personification
- suggests that the frogs have power over the persona
finish the quote: ‘If I dipped my hand..
…the spawn would clutch it’
‘If I dipped my hand, the spawn would clutch it’
- final nightmarish image
- suggests that the change is permanent and that the persona will never love nature again
finish the quote: ‘frogs..
..were rocked’
finish the quote: ‘pulsed..
..like snails’
finish the quote: ‘poised like…
..mud grenades’
‘frogs were rocked’
‘pulsed like snails’
‘poised like mud grenades’
- images are unified by a semantic field of war
- showing that nature and man have gone from being allies to enemies
- also emphasises how threatened the persona feels
finish the quote: ‘sweltered..
..in the punishing sun’
‘sweltered in the punishing sun’
- confrontational tone to the line could foreshadow the poem’s war -like ending
finish the quote: ‘best..
..of all’
finish the quote: ‘daddy..
..frog’
finish the quote: ‘mammy..
..frog’
‘best of all’
‘daddy frog’
‘mammy frog’
‘slobber’
- child-like/ juvenile language
- used by Heaney to highlight the persona’s naivety and innocence
- ‘mammy’ - Irish
finish the quote: ‘every..
..spring’
‘every spring’
- determiner
- suggests the persona’s fascination with nature was long-lasting
‘hot’
‘fields’
‘grass’
- setting has not changed
- nature isn’t different, the persona is
‘Then’
- change in time to a specific event
- signifies a volta
- change in tone - something more serious
‘angry’
‘invaded’
- negative language choices
- persona feels scared and uncomfortable
finish the quote: ‘gargled..
..delicately’
‘gargled delicately’
- oxymoron
- shows that children can find pleasure in the most unusual or disgusting of things
‘festered’
‘rotted’
- language related to death and decay
- could foreshadow the metaphorical death of the naturalist
- foreshadows shift in the child’s perception
finish the quote: ‘gross..
..-bellied’
finish the quote: ‘loose…
…necks’
finish the quote: ‘blunt…
..heads’
‘gross-bellied’
‘loose necks’
‘obscene’
‘blunt heads’
- negative tone from earlier in the stanza is continued
- the very thing that the persona was fascinated by are now the things that disgust him
finish the quote: ‘I sickened..
..turned, and ran’
‘I sickened, turned and ran’
- quick succession of verbs
- highlights the persona’s horrified reaction
- contrasts with the descriptiveness of the poem
mood and tone
- initially, the mood is one of fascination and passion as shown by ‘best of all’
- however the mood shifts to one of fear and terror as the child stumbles upon frogs ‘poised like mud grenades’ causing them to flee in panic
onomatopoeia and sibilance
- onomatopoeia and sibilance are used in the first stanza (and later) to recreate the sounds of the flax-dam: “bubbles gargled” and “slap and slop”
key quotations for loss
“the angry frogs/Invaded the flax-dam”
“… I knew/
That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it.”
ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR LOSS
“the angry frogs/Invaded the flax-dam”
“… I knew/
That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it.”
The shift in tone through words such as “angry” create an oppressive atmosphere which is juxtaposed with the child’s earlier wonder. The anthropomorphism of the frogs as invaders marks the loss of innocence as the child views them as threatening rather than fascinating
The final, end-stopped line of the poem has an elegiac quality, marking a sense of loss (of innocence)
key quotations for nature
“Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles/Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell.”
“The warm thick slobber/Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water”
ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR NATURE
“Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles/Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell.”
“The warm thick slobber/Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water”
Onomatopoeia is used to create a sensory richness in the descriptions of nature. Textural details like “strong gauze of sound” and words associated with weight (“heavy headed”, “weighted down”) convey an oppressive, almost claustrophobic feeling
A simile is used to describe the frogspawn and simple sensory words (“warm” and “thick”) convey the child’s fascination. The speaker’s innocent wonder is later replaced by revulsion and the word “slobber” foreshadows this change, hinting at the less appealing aspects of nature
key quotations for memory and reflection
“The great slime kings/Were gathered for vengeance”
“Then one hot day when fields were rank”
“I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied/Specks to range on window-sills at home,”
ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR MEMORY AND REFLECTION
“The great slime kings/Were gathered for vengeance”
“Then one hot day when fields were rank”
“I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied/Specks to range on window-sills at home,”
The regal metaphor of frogs as “slime kings” shows how the child’s perception has changed, with the choice of the menacing word “vengeance” reflecting a newfound fear and an abrupt end to the speaker’s childhood naivety
The word “then” marks a clear transition, or fulcrum, in the poem and signals a shift from the speaker’s childhood fascination with nature to a more mature and fearful perspective
The imagery of “jellied/Specks” is used to convey the speaker’s childhood curiosity and fascination in collecting the frogspawn, while the informal term “jampotfuls” evokes childhood playfulness
Verbs associated with the speaker’s movement change from more contemplative (“fill”, “wait” and “watch) in stanza one to fearful in stanza two (“ducked”, “sickened”, “turned and “ran”)
