Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney

Question 1

Story + message of DoaN:

Answer 1

• Brings forth the theme of childhood and presents a vivid portrayal of a child’s fascination towards nature
• This childhood fascination takes a dramatic turn in the second stanza with the child’s fear and revulsion towards the same creatures he was admiring

Question 2

Tone of DoaN:

Answer 2

• Ominous tone is created in by the use of the words “festered”, “rotted”, “sweltered”, and “punishing” - already there is a sense of nature at its most unforgiving, but rather than alarm the child it seems to captivate him
• 2nd stanza – violent + brutal tone – narrator has matured and is no longer naive, nature is presented in a much harsher tone

Question 3

Imagery of DoaN:

Answer 3

• Imagery of more gruesome aspects of nature – presents nature in a darker light
• Imagery of growth of nature – as frogspawn develop into frogs

Question 4

Where was Heaney born and where did he grow up?

Answer 4

• Born in 1939 County Londonderry (or Derry as it is more often referred to by Nationalists)
• Linked to his childhood in rural Northern Ireland

Question 5

What is Heaney often known as?

Answer 5

• Seamus Heaney is often known as a ‘farmer poet’ since many of his earliest poems are based on and around the farm and neighborhood where he was raised

Question 6

What could the setting of DoaN be significant as?

Answer 6

The setting of the poem in spring could be significant as symbolising a time of change

Question 7

What could Heaney’s poem be described as?

Answer 7

• Heaney’s poem could be described as the loss of childhood innocence and is largely seen through the eyes of a small child
• At a deeper level it could be interpreted as suggesting how our adult identities are formed

Question 8

How does DoaN link to Irish history?

Answer 8

• Tackles pain of growing up and display of deep respect for the Irish countryside
• ‘The Troubles – period of conflict 1960s – 1970s
• 1921 – Island of Ireland divided – split in population between Unionists (protestants) and Nationalists (Catholics)
• Bloody Sunday 13 killed by soldiers in civil rights protest
• May reflect the fractured and difficult history of his country and its struggle for independence

Question 9

“flax-dam festered”

Answer 9

style is unadorned, he begins abruptly and uses what might be thought of as ‘unpoetic’ language

Question 10

“Daily it sweltered in the punishing sun. / Bubbles gargled delicately,”

Answer 10

• onomatopoeic words – “gargled” – creating strong impression of sounds
• juxtaposition of the bubbles which “gargled delicately” makes it seem like a chemistry experiment

Question 11

“festered”, “rotted”, “sweltered” and “punishing”

Answer 11

• sense of nature at its most unforgiving – but rather than alarm the child it seems to captivate him
• he watched and listens intently and doesn’t seem repulsed as the “bluebottles/Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell”

Question 12

“bluebottles wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell”

Answer 12

• their buzzing mingles with the smell of the flax to create an impression of strength and intensity, while at the same time has a strange, “gauzy”, flimsy beauty to it
• mix of sound and smell - synaesthesia

Question 13

“But best of all was the warm thick slobber”

Answer 13

• excitement conveyed by the superlative phrase
• “slobber” is thrilling for narrator not only because of its texture but also since it transforms into something else
• documents and traces their evolution from “jellied specks” to “fattening dots” to “nimble swimming tadpoles”

Question 14

“I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied / Specks to range on window-sills at home,”

Answer 14

jaunty tones and a sense of the child’s delight as his investigations are supported at home and in school by his teacher

Question 15

Enjambment + caesura

Answer 15

• enjambment and caesura contribute to this slow-moving style
• There is a sense of him sitting and watching as events unfold, as illustrated in line thirteen
• While the poem has no end rhyme in the lines there is an abundance of internal rhyme and repetition, which again create a denseness in the writing

Question 16

“wait and watch until the fattening dots burst into nimble-swimming tadpoles”

Answer 16

• documents and traces their evolution from “jellied specks” to “fattening dots” to “nimble swimming tadpoles” – shows excitement

Question 17

“Miss Walls would tell us how he daddy frog was called a bullfrog/ And how he croaked and how the mammy frog / Laid hundreds of little eggs and this was
Frogspawn”

Answer 17

• Childish vernacular is used as the teacher ‘Miss Walls’ explains about the ‘mammy’ frog and the ‘daddy’ frog. The colloquialism of ‘mammy’ firmly places this poem in an Irish context
• The simplistic language and the repetition of ‘frog’ in this stanza’s final sentence echoes a child reporting what he has learnt in school that day

Question 18

new stanza + “Then one hot day when the fields were rank”

Answer 18

• “then” indicates the change in the poet’s relationship with nature
• The voice changes to the older Heaney - there is a sharp contrast between his perspective as a child, fascinated and curious about the natural world, and his later attitude
• The second stanza signifies passing time, now probably summer
• The ‘hot day’ seems oppressive, and the ‘rank’ fields’ create an unpleasant, restless atmosphere and mood
• harsh monosyllabic line “rang”, “dung” – harsh consonances

Question 19

“With the cow dung in the grass the angry frogs invaded the flax-dam”

Answer 19

• aggression of the frogs and maturation of the adolescent poet
• realistic, brutal, descriptive language in second stanza compared to childish language in first
• the frog spawn and boy are both growing up, both in a phase of aggression and cynicism – world is now hostile not benign
• “invaded” - martial imagery reinforces the idea of aggression – this perception has damaged something he had seen as beautiful – militaristic language

Question 20

“the dam gross-bellied frogs were cocked / Their loose necks pulsed like sails.”

Answer 20

• “gross” is a pun, an adjective that means “large”, but also “rude” and “disgusting” – the frogs necks inflate as they croak repelling the young reader
• descriptive words are vivid and conjure an unpleasant picture
• “gross bellied”, “cocked on sods” and “loose necks” – consonants are hard and sharp e.g. the percussive “c”’s in “cocked” and “necks”
• hissing in sibilant “s”’s in “gross”, “loose” and “pulse” are consonantly rhymed
• proliferation of “o” sounds combined with the harsh “c” show that this is eerie and grating on the child’s nerves
• most of the words are single syllables and if read aloud the 2 lines are slow and ponderous
• makes use of graphic visual imagery with simile “their loose necks pulsed like a sail”
• pays attention to details

Question 21

“cocked” ”poised” “grenades”

Answer 21

• militaristic language
• describes the frogs as an army, coming back to seize what was theirs
• militaristic language hint to ‘The Troubles’ were there was large amount of political and religious conflict often leading to violence

Question 22

“The slap and plop were obscene threats”

Answer 22

• language is that of disgust and fear – sharp contrast to speaker’s fascination ats tart of stanza

Question 23

“Some sat poised like mud grenades, their blunt heads farting”

Answer 23

• as though the frogs are ready to attack him
• words and images are deliberately ridiculous evoking memories of childhood delight at ‘naughty words’

Question 24

“I sickened, turned, and ran.”

Answer 24

• shorter sentence length and quickened pace
• dramatic climax with its triplet of verbs
• triplet of verbs – indication of how quickly he’smoving

Question 25

The great slime kings were gathered there for vengeance”

Answer 25

• young speaker was deeply disturbed, assuming that the frogs knew that he had already taken some of their young
• He thought that they were out for revenge, and would attack him if he touched the spawn again
• “slime-kings”- compound hyphenated nouns conveys idea of dominance threat in “king” and revulsion in “slime” – he’s am imposter
• understood concept of consequences – lost
• in his maturity understood the natural world is a world of its own – not to be interfered with