'Death of a Naturalist,' by Seamus Heaney (a modern poem) Flashcards
…sweltered…”
Daily it sweltered in the punishing sun.
best of all…
best of all was the warm thick slobber / Of frogspawn
every spring…
every spring / I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied / Specks
Then one hot day when…
Then one hot day when fields were rank / With cowdung in the grass
Some hopped…
Some hopped: / The slap and plop were obscene threats.
Poised…
Poised like mud grenades
The great slime kings…
The great slime kings / Were gathered there for vengeance
What is the poem about?
Heaney shows his loss of childhood innocence: he recalls how he loved collecting frogspawn as a child - but was later disgusted by the adult frogs.
Where did Seamus Heaney grow up?
Heaney grew up on a farm in rural Northern Ireland, where many of his poems are set.
Heaney’s poems are often about his memories of what?
Heaney’s poems are often about his own childhood memories and experiences.
The poem is set in a flax-dam. What is a flax-dam?
A flax-dam is a muddy patch of earth under which the plant flax is rotted down in order to make linen cloth. This is how linen was made when Heaney was a child.
In what religion was Heaney taught to believe as a child?
He was raised as a Roman Catholic (and would have been taught about sin and punishment).
