Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney (WJEC Eduqas GCSE English Literature)
Revision Note
Written by: Kate Lee
Reviewed by: Jenna Quinn
What is the poem about?
‘Death of a Naturalist’ is a poem written by Irish poet Seamus Heaney, first published in his 1966 collection of the same name. In ‘Death of a Naturalist’ Heaney depicts a young boy’s fascination with frogspawn which transforms into disillusionment when he is confronted with the harsh realities of nature. Heaney’s poem examines the loss of childhood innocence and wonder.
Language, structure and form revision | What happens in the poem? |
Language:
Form:
Structure: | Stanza One:
Stanza Two:
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Poems for comparison:
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Key words
Context: | Autobiography | Rural landscapes | ||
Themes: | Innocence and youth | Nature | Passage of time | Memory and reflection |
Poem analysis
'Death of a Naturalist' by Seamus Heaney
All year the flax-dam festered in the heart
Of the townland; green and heavy headed
Flax had rotted there, weighted down by huge sods.
Daily it sweltered in the punishing sun.
Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles
Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell.
There were dragonflies, spotted butterflies,
But best of all was the warm thick slobber
Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water
In the shade of the banks. Here, every spring
I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied
Specks to range on window sills at home,
On shelves at school, and wait and watch until
The fattening dots burst, into nimble
Swimming tadpoles. Miss Walls would tell us how
The daddy frog was called a bullfrog
And how he croaked and how the mammy frog
Laid hundreds of little eggs and this was
Frogspawn. You could tell the weather by frogs too
For they were yellow in the sun and brown
In rain.
Then one hot day when fields were rank
With cowdung in the grass the angry frogs
Invaded the flax-dam; I ducked through hedges
To a coarse croaking that I had not heard
Before.The air was thick with a bass chorus.
Right down the dam gross bellied frogs were cocked
On sods; their loose necks pulsed like sails. Some hopped:
The slap and plop were obscene threats. Some sat
Poised like mud grenades, their blunt heads farting.
I sickened, turned, and ran. The great slime kings
Were gathered there for vengeance and I knew
That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it.
Language
Onomatopoeia and sibilance are used in the first stanza (and later) to recreate the sounds of the flax-dam: “bubbles gargled” and “slap and slop”
Words associated with decay such as “festered” and “rotted” foreshadow the shift in the child’s perception
Alliteration is used throughout to emphasise the childlike quality of the descriptions: “jampotfuls of the jellied/Specks”
Imagery of the frogs as metaphorical “great slime kings” making “obscene threats” gives them a menacing quality in the child’s eyes, emphasises by the military simile of them “Poised like mud grenades”
Clear contrast in tone and imagery is evident in the second stanza conveying the speaker’s changed feelings towards nature
Heaney’s choice of a childlike, vernacular and colloquial language “daddy frog” and “farting” adds authenticity and realism to the poem
Structure
The poem is structured into two distinct parts, reflecting the shift in the speaker’s perspective from childhood innocence to a more mature understanding
Enjambment reflects the child’s stream of consciousness and conveys the movement of nature
Caesura is used to heighten key moments in the poem, such as the fulcrum when the speaker’s feelings change dramatically
Form
The poem is written in free verse without a regular rhyme scheme reflecting the unstructured nature of childhood and this experience, adding to its intimate and conversational style
Overview of themes
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”) |
Historical and literary context
Seamus Heaney (1939-2013) was an Irish poet and playwright:
He is regarded as one of the major poets of the 20th century and won the Noble Prize for Literature in 1995
His poetry collection, Death of a Naturalist, was first published in 1966 and reflects Heaney’s own experiences growing up in rural Ireland:
It explores the loss of childhood innocence and the transition to a more complex understanding of the world
Heaney’s work is deeply rooted in the landscape and history of Ireland:
This deeply influenced his poetry, particularly his early work
Many of his poems deal with themes of death, loss and memory:
Heaney often uses nature imagery to explore themes of mortality and the cycle of life
His work on death is generally elegiac and contemplative
His poetry is known for its accessible, colloquial language and imagery
Heaney’s fascination with the natural world is evident in the poem:
The speaker’s childhood fascination with collecting frogspawn and observing its development reflects Heaney’s own early interest in nature
The choice of a first-person speaker and the nature of the recollections in this poem suggest he is drawing on autobiographical experiences
Comparing poems
Look at this exam-style question about ‘Death of a Naturalist’:
‘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:
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How you could approach this question:
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 |
Predicted exam questions to prepare for
Compare the ways poets explore the theme of nature in ‘Death of a Naturalist’ and in one other poem from the anthology.
Compare how memory is presented in ‘Death of a Naturalist’ and in one other poem from the anthology.
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