Death of a Naturalist - Seamus Heaney

Question 1

what type of poet is he

Answer 1

an Irish poet

Question 2

what was his lifeline

Answer 2

1939-2013

Question 3

was Heaney a big poet

Answer 3

yes he was massively acclaimed, won numerous prizes and honors including the noble prize for literature

Question 4

what was heaney

Answer 4

teacher, lecturer and poet

Question 5

where did he grow up

Answer 5

in rural Ireland on his parents farm

Question 6

why does heaney often talk about the loss of innocence in his poetry

Answer 6

his brother died at aged 4, and this had an effect on his writing

Question 7

when was this poem published and what is significant about this

Answer 7

published when he had his own children - having children brought back his childhood memories seen in the poem

Question 8

what is the importance of the poems title

Answer 8

naturalist = an expert or student of nature
this title could be a metaphor for the death or lose of someones interest

Question 9

“festered….rotted”

Answer 9

language related to death and decay, which could foreshadow the metaphorical meaning of the naturalist

Question 10

“heart”

Answer 10

having the flax damn in the town lands “heart” stresses its importance of community

Question 11

“sweltered in the punishing sun”

Answer 11

confrontational tone Ould foreshadow the poems warlike ending
it also shows that as a little boy, you just wanna be outside no matter what

Question 12

in the first 4 lines of the poem, alliteration has been used consistently, what is the importance

Answer 12

creates a nursery like rhyme scheme reflecting the person’s youth

Question 13

“bubbles gargled delicately”

Answer 13

the oxymoron “gargled delicately” shows the children can find pleasure in the most unusual or disgusting of things

Question 14

“blue bottles”
“dragon flies, spotted butterflies”
“frogspawn”

Answer 14

nature is alive and thriving and the persona is fascinated

Question 15

“warm thick slobber” “clotted water”

Answer 15

childlike language, highlights persona’s naivety and innocence

Question 16

“every”

Answer 16

the persona’s fascination with nature was long lasting

Question 17

“jampotfuls of the jelly”

Answer 17

alliteration makes the personas passion seem natural
in large quantity

Question 18

“wait and watch until”

Answer 18

alliteration draws attention to how absorbed the persona is in their passion

Question 19

“fattening dots burst”

Answer 19

nature is alive, thriving and full of energy

Question 20

“miss walls” “daddy frog” “mammy frog”

Answer 20

the persons youth and irishness are displayed

Question 21

in the last 4 lines os the first stanza, the word and is repeated a lot. Why is this important?

Answer 21

mimics the speech patterns of young children and shows the persona’s youth and enthusiasm

Question 22

“in rain”

Answer 22

negative connotations, could be start of Volta as something negative is on it’s way

Question 23

what is the importance of the first stanza ending so abruptly

Answer 23

could foreshadow the abrupt metaphorical death in the next stanza
shift in mood and structure could be the volta

Question 24

the second stanza begins with “then” what is the significance of this

Answer 24

change in time to a specific event
change in tone to something more serious

Question 25

true or false? the setting changes in the second stanza

Answer 25

false emphasizes that nature isn't different but the persona is

Question 26

"invaded" "angry"

Answer 26

negative language choices shows that the person is scared or uncomfortable

Question 27

"coarse crocking"

Answer 27

- makes phrase stand out by using alliteration - this shows that the persona finds the sounds of the frog unsettling and shows a feeling of intimidation

Question 28

"the air was thick with a bass chorus"

Answer 28

nature is strong, fearsome the frog has gaged up on the persona

Question 29

"gross - bellied" "loose necks" "obscene threats" "blunt heads"

Answer 29

this language creates a negative tone that once fascinated the persona now disgust them

Question 30

"frogs were cocked" "poised like mud grenades"

Answer 30

semantic field of war showing that nature and man are now enemies emphasizes how threatened the persona feels

Question 31

"slap and blop"

Answer 31

onomatepiec words are called "threats" emphasizing the idea of the sounds of the frogs being the thing that scares the persona

Question 32

"I sickened, turned and ran"

Answer 32

quick succession of verbs highlights the personas horrified reaction contrasts with the descriptiveness of the rest of the poem

Question 33

"the great slime kings"

Answer 33

personification suggests that the forms have power over the persona

Question 34

"if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it"

Answer 34

final nightmarish image suggests that the change is permanent and the persona will never love nature again

Question 35

what is the meaning of this poem

Answer 35

- tells the tale of a child and there relationship with nature - they start of innocent, fascinated with nature however that changes as the poem moves on the child grows up - this links to the title of the poem "death of a naturalist"

Question 36

what is the mood of this poem

Answer 36

- begins with a mood of fascination and passion - however the mood shifts to one of fear and terror as the child stumbles upon frogs and causes them to run in a panic

Question 37

what was the motivation for writing this poem

Answer 37

- inspired but the death of his brother, Heaney often writes about the loss of innocence in his poetry - heaney published this poem the same year that he had a child meaning that he may have been meditating on his childhood in rural Ireland

Question 38

how does this poem relate to the theme of power

Answer 38

power of nature powerlessness of childhood

Question 39

how does this poem relate to the theme of nature

Answer 39

about nature all the way through

Question 40

how does this poem relate to the theme of love

Answer 40

love and passion towards nature great interest

Question 41

how does this poem relate to the theme of time

Answer 41

about a time in someone's life, and change only occurs over time

Question 42

how does this poem relate to the theme of man

Answer 42

about a child and human emotion

Question 43

how does this poem relate to the theme of death

Answer 43

metaphorical death, loss of innocence is the whole point in the poem