Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney

Question 1

Death of a Naturalist
Person?
Structure?
Structure?

Answer 1

1st, autobiographical, nostalgic, older pov
Unrhymed iambic pentameter,rhythm of nature
Two parts, sinister end, loss of childhood and innocence, change is inevitable

Question 2

Death of a Naturalist
Context?

Answer 2

-Brought up in rural Ireland on farm, poems show interest in nature
-Language from Irish heritage ‘mammy’
-Brother died at 4, reflected in poems

Question 3

Death of a Naturalist
5 quotes

Answer 3

‘flax-dam festered in the heart’
‘mammy frog/Laid hundreds of little eggs’
‘yellow in the sun and brown/In rain’
‘poised like mud grenades’
‘great slime kings…for vengeance’

Question 4

Death of a Naturalist
‘flax-dam festered in the heart’

Answer 4

-Labiodental fricative, rotten area, decay just like innocence
-Mix of growth& stagnation
-Centre of town, importance to speaker, symbol of emotion

Question 5

Death of a Naturalist
‘mammy frogs/Laid hundreds of little eggs’

Answer 5

-Colloquial childish lg, naive to natural world, joyous to discover
-Repeated enjambment, extended explanation
-Reported speech, nostalgia primary school

Question 6

Death of a Naturalist
‘yellow in the sun and brown/In rain’

Answer 6

-Brilliance of natural world, speaker learns about frogs
-Spring to autumn, time passing
-Short line, pathetic fallacy, ends with neg image, signals change

Question 7

Death of a Naturalist
‘poised like mud grenades’

Answer 7

-Military simile, violence, war between speaker and frogs
-Need for fragility as they are ready to explode

Question 8

Death of a Naturalist
‘great slime kings…for vengeance’

Answer 8

-Metaphor, dominance over landscape, excludes speaker
-Adj,frogs hold all power
-Mix of admiration & disgust
-Young speaker misreads intent, believes they are repaying him for stealing, innocent fear