Poetry - Nature Essay Flashcards
‘Blackberry-Pickings’ P1
Blackberry-Pickings uses a bipartite structure to separate childhood innocence from adult pessimism.
“Late August, given heavy rain and sun.” Contrast is highlighted between the childish joy and the sour. Paradoxical aspect foreshadow the conflicted feelings the speaker receives after innocence starts to fade. The weather - nature has a close connection to speaker.
‘Blackberry-Pickings’ P2
“Flesh was sweet”. Suggests that nature and humanity go through a similar process of change in life.
“Thickened wine: summer’s blood” That repetition of human features, “flesh” then “blood”, emphasises symmetry between the natural world’s and human’s maturity.
Contrast to the sweet flesh in stanza one, “the sweet flesh would turn sour.” Strengthens the link. Like fruit rots we change with age.
‘Death of a Naturalist’ P1
“Gargled delicately” highlights love for the unsettling aspects of natural world due to innocence.
“Best of all was the warm thick slobber.” Compares frogspawn to dog saliva. Nature is a disgusting comfort for the speaker.
Move to “the slap and plop were obscene threats.” Highlighting a new fear and danger the speaker has found in nature - natural world mirrors his now pessimistic view on life.
‘Death of a Naturalist’ P2
Heaney continues the idea of losing innocence.
“The daddy frog was called a bullfrog/And how he croaked and how the mammy frog/Laid hundreds of little eggs.” Emphasises innocence of speaker through natural cycle of world and reproduction. Links to ‘B-P’ - once you lose the childhood innocence you cannot get it back, contrast between the natural world highlights.
‘Personal Helicon’ P1
Natural world to show his self discovery.
“So deep you saw no reflection in it.” A young innocent child still doesn’t know much about themselves as portrayed through dark nature.
“A white face hovered over the bottom.“ Metaphor - ghost or haunting reflection. As he matures indicated by language like “fructified” he understands himself and his innocence is lost to haunting or scary.
Ghost links to BP and ideas of mortality
‘Personal Helicon’ P2
Trochee as the start of Stanza 4 brings the reader starkly to the present.
“to pry into roots, to finger slime,/To stare”
The “dragged” and “soft mulch” have become less pleasant. “pry” suggests something invasive, “slime” has disgusting connotations, “stare”, again, suggests a compulsion but the act would make the subject unsettled. Lost the innocent joy to the unnerving and unsettling adult world - emphasised through the view of nature
“T d f w c a b/A h h c a h t m f/L h o l e.”
“The daddy frog was called a bullfrog/And how he croaked and how the mammy frog/Laid hundreds of little eggs.” DOAN P2
“S d y s n r i i.”
“So deep you saw no reflection in it.” PH P1
“L A, g h r a s.”
“Late August, given heavy rain and sun.” BP P1
“F w s”
“Flesh was sweet” BP P2
“T w: s b”
“Thickened wine: summer’s blood” BP P2
“t s f w t s.”
“the sweet flesh would turn sour.” BP P2
“G d“
“Gargled delicately“ DOAN P1
“B o a w t w t s.”
“Best of all was the warm thick slobber.” DOAN P1
“T s a p w o t.”
“the slap and plop were obscene threats.” DOAN P1
