Death of a Naturalist

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Death of a Naturalist

• By Seamus Heaney

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All year the flax-dam festered in the heartOf
the townland green and heavy headedFlax had
rotted there, weighted down by huge sods.Daily
it sweltered in the punishing sun.Bubbles
gargles delicately, bluebottlesWove a strong
gauze of sound around the smell.There were
dragon-flies, spotted butterflies,But best of
all was the warm thick slobberOf frogspawn that
grew like clotted waterIn the shade of the
banks. Here, every springI would fill jampotfuls
of the jelliedSpecks to range on the window
sills at home,On shelves at school, and wait and
watch untilThe fattening dots burst into
nimble-Swimming tadpoles. Miss Walls would tell
us howThe daddy frog was called a bullfrogAnd
how he croaked and how the mammy frogLaid
hundreds of little eggs and this wasFrogspawn.
You could tell the weather by frogs tooFor they
were yellow in the sun and brownIn rain.
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Then one hot day when fields were rankWith
cowdung in the grass, the angry frogsInvaded the
flax-dam I ducked through hedgesTo a coarse
croaking that I had not heardBefore. The air was
thick with a bass chorus.Right down the dam
gross-bellied frogs were cockedOn sods their
loose necks pulsed like sails. Some hopped.The
slap and plop were obscene threats. Some
satPoised like mud greandes, their blunt heads
farting.I sickened and ran. The great slime
kingsWere gathered there for vengeance and I
knewThat if I dipped my hand the spawn would
clutch it
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The Title

• Death of a Naturalist
• A naturalist is someone who studies nature
  someone like David Attenborough or the late,
  great Steve Irwin.

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The Title

• Death of a Naturalist
• Death sounds very dramatic, serious and alarming
• HOWEVER
• The death is not of a person but of a childs
  dream and ambition.

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The structure

• The structure of the poem is very, very simple.
  It is in two parts
• 1) the young Heaney who loves nature and
  dreams of being a naturalist.
• 2) the slightly older Heaney who has a nasty
  experience involving frogs and is put off
  nature for life!!

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The first part

• How do we get the impression of a young boy who
  loves nature and frogs?
• Excited tone he is excited by all the facts he
  is learning about frogs, Miss Wallis would tell
  us about how the daddy frog was called a
  bullfrog and how he croaked and how the mammy
  frog lay hundreds of little eggs
• Delight in the muddy, messy water bubbles
  gargled delicately. He is a stereotypical little
  boy.
• Experimental and curious I collected
  jampotfuls of the jellied specks to range on
  windowsills at home
• Fascinated and proudly collecting facts you
  could tell the weather by frogs too.

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The Second Part

• How is the boy put off nature and frogs?
• He is convinced that the frogs have ganged up on
  him because they are angry that he has stolen
  their frogspawn the great slime kings were
  gathered there for vengeance.
• He uses language of war to describe how they seem
  to attack him, the angry frogs invaded their
  loose necks pulsed like sails some sat poised
  like mud grenades.
• The nature that he was so fascinated by now seems
  disgusting- the fields were rank with dung
  gross bellied frogs their blunt heads
  farting I as sickened the great slime
  kings

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Onomatopoeia

• Onomatopoeia is used very effectively in this
  poem to give an impression of the disgusting
  nature of the muddy frog pond.
• Words such as croak, slap and plop are all
  onomatopoeic.

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Similes

• The poem uses similes to describe the frogs
• their loose necks pulsed like sails
• Some sat poised like mud grenades