death of a naturalist Flashcards
who was it written by and some brief life info?
Seamus Heaney
Heaney is Northern Irish and the son of a farmer.
He did not follow his father into farming and studied English at university.
Much of his poetry reflects his rural upbringing.
what is the form and structure like?
There is a first person speaker who changes as the poem progresses.
It is mostly blank verse and unrhymed iambic pentameter, but with variations.
One long stanza broken by line 21, ‘In rain.’ which separates the earlier, more innocent part, to the later more threatening section.
what are the key themes?
The idea of imminent attack is part of the historical culture of Northern Ireland.
As a boy Heaney saw nature as an enemy and may have been influenced by his country’s recent history.
The poem metaphorically presents a nation at war with itself.
what is the historical and literary context?
Historical Context: A Northern Irish poet, Heaney was influenced by his surroundings and upbringing.
He was raised a Catholic in a predominantly Protestant society (the poem could reflect his inner conflict as a result of this) and experienced the Troubles firsthand - this sense of conflict is evident in the poem which could be a metaphor for a nation at war with itself.
Literary Context: A traditional poet, Heaney gestures back to the pre-modern world of Wordsworth. He was also influenced by the Movement poets who helped him to realise that he could write about his childhood experiences. He can be seen as another poet who gives voice to the voiceless.
quote 1: ‘Death of a Naturalist’ what could you say about this?
‘Death’ has negative connotations and sets the tone. Contrastingly a naturalist is an expert scientist on living things. A poem about contradiction and conflict.
quote 2: ‘All year flax-dam festered in the heart/of the townland’ what could you say about this?
Personifies the town which suggests nature is at the heart of Ireland.
quote 3: ‘Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles/ wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell’ what could you say about this?
The oxymoron and metaphor create strikingly auditory imagery.
quote 4: ‘I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied/ specks to range on window sills at home’ what could you say about this?
No description, only a simple and nostalgic retelling of events. The alliterative phrase emphasises childishness.
quote 5: ‘The slap and plop were obscene threats’ what could you say about this?
The indelicate onomatopoeic metaphor, ‘along with crude references like ‘farting’ change the tone and suggest nature has a negative side.
quote 6: ‘The great slime kings/ were gathered there for vengeance’ what could you say about this?
religious undertones as the infestation of frogs seems like a Biblical plague from Moses’ time.
