Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney (WJEC Eduqas GCSE English Literature)

Language, structure and form revision

What happens in the poem?

Language: 

• Alliteration and sibilance

• Onomatopoeia

• Personification

• Imagery

• Symbolism

Form: 

• Free verse

• Two stanzas of unequal length

Structure: 

• Enjambment

• Caesura 

Stanza One:

• The poem opens with a description of a flax-dam in spring. The speaker, as a child, collects frogspawn and watches it develop in jars. He describes the sounds and smells of the pond, including the croaking of frogs. The stanza ends with his teacher explaining frog reproduction, which the child finds fascinating
  

Stanza Two:

• The tone shifts in the second stanza as the speaker returns to the flax-dam. The frogs, once objects of wonder, now appear threatening. Overwhelmed by the reality of nature, the speaker flees, his innocent perspective shattered

Poems for comparison:

• ‘To Autumn’ by John Keats: seasons, passage of time, nature

• ‘Afternoons’ by Philip Larkin: passage of time, loss 

• ‘A Wife in London’ by Thomas Hardy: passage of time, loss

• ‘Excerpt from The Prelude’: nature, innocence and youth  

Context: 

Autobiography

Rural landscapes

Colloquial

Themes: 

Innocence and youth 

Nature

Passage of time

Memory and reflection

Themes 

Key quotations

Language, form and structure

Loss

“the angry frogs/Invaded the flax-dam”

                   “… I knew/

That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it.”

The shift in tone through words such as “angry” create an oppressive atmosphere which is juxtaposed with the child’s earlier wonder. The anthropomorphism of the frogs as invaders marks the loss of innocence as the child views them as threatening rather than fascinating 

The final, end-stopped line of the poem has an elegiac quality, marking a sense of loss (of innocence)   

Nature

“Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles/Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell.”

“The warm thick slobber/Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water”

Onomatopoeia is used to create a sensory richness in the descriptions of nature. Textural details like “strong gauze of sound” and words associated with weight (“heavy headed”, “weighted down”) convey an oppressive, almost claustrophobic  feeling 

A simile is used to describe the frogspawn and simple sensory words  (“warm” and “thick”) convey the child’s fascination. The speaker’s innocent wonder is later replaced by revulsion and the word “slobber” foreshadows this change, hinting at the less appealing aspects of nature 

Memory and reflection 

“The great slime kings/Were gathered for vengeance”

“Then one hot day when fields were rank”

“I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied/Specks to range on window-sills at home,”

The regal metaphor of frogs as “slime kings” shows how the child’s perception has changed, with the choice of the menacing word “vengeance” reflecting a newfound fear and an abrupt end to the speaker’s childhood naivety

The word “then” marks a clear transition, or fulcrum, in the poem and signals a shift from the speaker’s childhood fascination with nature to a more mature and fearful perspective

The imagery of “jellied/Specks” is used to convey the speaker’s childhood curiosity and fascination in collecting the frogspawn, while the informal term “jampotfuls” evokes childhood playfulness

Verbs associated with the speaker’s movement change from more contemplative (“fill”, “wait” and “watch) in stanza one to fearful in stanza two (“ducked”, “sickened”, “turned and “ran”) 

‘Death of a Naturalist’ is a poem about loss.

Choose one other poem from the anthology in which the poet also writes about loss. Compare the way the poet presents loss in your chosen poem with the way Seamus Heaney presents loss in ‘Death of a Naturalist’.

In your answer you should compare:

• the content and structure of the poems – what they are about and how they are organised

• how the writers create effects, using appropriate terminology where relevant

• the contexts of the poems, and how these may have influenced the ideas in them

Thesis / Essay introduction: Both Hardy and Heaney explore the theme of loss in distinct ways. ‘A Wife in London’ examines personal loss resulting from war, while ‘Death of a Naturalist’ addresses the loss of childhood innocence. 

Similarities  

Differences 

Both ‘Death of a Naturalist’ and ‘A Wife in London’ explore the theme of loss and the emotional and transformative impact it has on individuals. For both speakers this loss is profound and life-changing

‘A Wife in London’ is about personal loss as a result of war while ‘Death of a Naturalist’ is concerned with the loss of childhood innocence

Both poets use imagery associated with nature to explore the theme of loss, with Hardy’s urban landscape and Heaney’s rural environment underscoring the universality of the experience of loss

While Hardy uses the imagery of weather in an urban setting to reinforce the profound sense of human loss in the poem, Heaney’s poem uses the richness and degradation of rural nature itself as a vehicle for the speaker’s loss of innocence 

Both ‘Death of a Naturalist’ and ‘A Wife in London’ are structured into two parts and each marks a different moment for the speakers. In Hardy’s poem, this division moves from a wife’s hopeful anticipation to a devastating realisation of her husband's fate. Similarly, in Heaney’s poem, the division delineates the speaker’s transition from childhood innocence to disillusionment

In Heaney’s poem, the poet foregrounds the experiences and childhood recollections of the first-person speaker, giving us intimate insights through childish, vernacular language and a stream-of-consciousness, free verse style. In Hardy’s poem, the poet adopts a third-person perspective, with a regular rhyme scheme, to offer a more formal, poetic narrative of grief and tragedy

Thesis / Essay introduction: Both Heaney and Larkin explore the theme of loss in distinct ways: ‘Death of and Naturalist’ addresses the loss of childhood innocence, while ‘Afternoons’ examines the gradual loss of youth and vitality in adult life. While ‘Death of and Naturalist’ explores this theme through rural landscapes to illustrate the childhood transition from wonder to fear, ‘Afternoons’ uses an urban setting to depict the erosion of youthful dreams and aspirations.

Similarities  

Differences  

Both ‘Death of a Naturalist’ and ‘Afternoons’ have a reflective tone as the speakers reflect on past experiences. In ‘Death of a Naturalist’ Heaney reflects on the child’s evolving relationship with nature. Similarly, Larkin reflects on the inevitable passage of time leading to a feeling of both melancholy and resignation

Both poems explore loss through different contexts. Heaney explores the loss of childhood innocence as the speaker’s fascination with nature turns into fear and repulsion, while Larkin examines the loss of youth and vitality through the mundane routines and responsibilities that come with adult life

Both ‘Death of a Naturalist’ and ‘Afternoons’  explore loss through the concept of transition and change. Heaney’s poem portrays the transition from childhood innocence and Larkin’s poem explores the transition from youth to adulthood

Heaney’s poem focuses on the personal, individual experience of the speaker as a child  and depicts a moment of transformation from innocence to experience. In contrast, Larkin’s poem takes a broader, collective view and reflects on the lives of young mothers and the gradual erosion of youth and aspirations

Both ‘Death of a Naturalist’ and ‘Afternoons’  use simple, colloquial language to convey the theme of loss. Heaney uses simple language to capture the innocent experiences of childhood and Larkin uses deliberately plain language to capture the ordinary essence of life 

Heaney’s poem is set in a rural environment and depicts the natural world through the flax-dam and frogspawn. In contrast,  ‘Afternoons’ is set within an urban context and reflects the everyday and domestic aspects of family routines