Poetry Quotations Flashcards
“Death of a naturalist”
“naturalist” is someone who is an expert in nature.
“Death” is metaphorical of the passion for nature.
“festered, rotted”
Lexical set of death and decay
May be foreshadowing the death of the naturalist
“flam dam festered in the heart”
Metaphor
“heart” metaphorically suggests it importance to the community as nature and man live in symbiosis
“best of all” and “slobbered”
onomatopoeia
childlike language to highlight persons naivety and innocence
“bubbles gargled delicately”
oxymoron
Children find pleasure in unusual and disgusting things.
“dragon flies” and “spotted butterflies”
Symbolism
High density of images of nature suggest nature is lively.
Persona is fascinated by it as they are mention so many things about them.
“jampotfuls of the jellied”
Alliteration and made up word
Alliteration makes the personas passion seem natural as jelly belongs in jam jars.
Pluralization of “jampotfuls” shows persona passion is vast.
Made up word further suggests naivety of the persona
“and wait and watch”
Assonance and alliteration
shows they are absorbed by their passion as it takes up their time
They chose to watch nature as they enjoy it so much.
“Miss Walls” and “daddy and mummy frog”
Childlike language
Childlike language shows naivety and innocence of persona
Persona takes her word as the gospel and puts total faith in what she has told them - showing their youth.
“In rain.”
Caesura and Volta
Rain is negative connotations suggesting that something negative is on the horizon.
Abrupt end line could foreshadow the sudden metaphorical death.
“field and grass”
Green imagery and Juxtaposition
Nature hasn’t changed as its still alive and green which juxtaposes the idea of death
Suggests that only the persona has changed
“coarse croaking”
Sensory language and Alliteration
Reflect how the persona feels threatened by the frogs as it makes him feel unsettled.
Sensory language shows Heaney used to associate to this but is lost in his blindness.
“poised like mud grenades”, “pulsed like sails”
Semantic field of war
Shows nature and man have gone from allies to enemies.
Emphasis that the narrator feels threatened.
“slap and pop”
Onomatopoeia and sounds
these amplify the “threats”
They are unsettling and make him feel threatened and scared
“I sickened, turned and ran”
Triadic structure
Highlights the personas horrific reaction as he physically leaves nature.
Suggests that he does not feel apart of nature, and man an nature cant co-exist.
“Great slime kings”
Personification
Persona feels powerless in nature.
Nature has taken power over man
Title “Hawk Roosting”
Hawk is a bird of prey which is top of its food chain
Roosting is when birds rest, they don’t feel threatened -shows the hawks control
“I sit in top of the wood”
Metaphor and Personal Pronoun
Indicates physical superiority in his position and power.
First person perspective shows he has control over the poem.
“Hooked head and hooked feet”
Repetition and Rhyming couplet
Rhyming couplet with “eat” emphasizes how the Hawk kills are precise and perfect.
Repetition of “hooked” emphasizes the hawks potential for violence
“Convenience” and “advantage”
Lexical set
Shows the hawk seems to think that nature was designed just to suit it, showing its arrogance.
“Now I hold Creation in my foot”
Reversal and capitalizes “C”
He has power over God
Capitalizes “c” shows he has the power to do whatever he wants.
“It took the whole of Creation”
Reference to God
hawk thinks he is above God as all of his effort was I making the hawk. Shows he is arrogant.
“I ill where I please because it is all mine.”
Monosyllabic and Caesura
His words are final. No one can persuade him otherwise.
Line ends just like the lives of the people he kills.
Monosyllabic language suggests the hawk is confident
“My manner are tearing off heads”
Juxtaposition
presents the hawk as a dictator.
Violence doe not phase the hawk as he says it simply. He enjoys his power.
