Heaney presents his loss of childhood innocence into adulthood by writing three poems called "Blackberry Picking", "Death of a Naturalist" and "Digging".

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MICHAEL BROCKHOUSE                PAGE

Seamus Heaney coursework assignment

Heaney presents his loss of childhood innocence into adulthood by writing three poems called “Blackberry Picking”, “Death of a Naturalist” and “Digging”

The first one I will be studying is called “Blackberry- picking”. Heaney writes about when he was a child, he picked blackberries as a child in the summer. The joy it gave him is likened to an awakening of sexual excitement, finally the disappointment he felt when the fruit turned sour, after all the hard work he said it was “unfair”.

Heaney addresses certain issues such as growing up, acceptance, realisation, adulthood, disillusionment, sensual pleasure (lust), sexual awakening and greed.

Heaney creates the carefree mood by the sound of the berries “tinkling” on the “milk cans” He uses the onomatopoeia by using the word “tinkling” which gives the affect of the sound of the berries. It starts innocently and gets darker towards the end. He feels disbelief, depression, frustration and also sexual awakening.

Heaney used “free verse”, everyday and matter of fact language. He looks back in first person, his point of view, in past tense. There is no clear rhythm except from lines 3, 4 and the last 2 lines at the end of the poem.

The language in Blackberry Picking is mostly straightforward and informal. The most obvious imagery is of blood. Heaney uses similes to creative the scene such as the following “hard as a knot” which emphasis the density. “Our palms sticky as Bluebeard’s”, Heaney is comparing his hands to Bluebeard’s (because Bluebeard killed his wife) this shows that Heaney is feeling guilt as if there were blood on his hands. Heaney is hinting that all is not well. The nightmarish visions of “Death of a Naturalist” are there again. When speaks of “big dark blobs” which are “burned” he said they are “like a plate of eyes”. Heaney describes the taste   “like thickened wine” which links to the image of a clot.

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Heaney uses the “bleached our boots” to creative the feeling muddy and wet, which is also alliteration. He uses the onomatopoeia by using the word “tinkling” which gives the affect of the sound of the berries. “Summer’s blood” which is a metaphor this shows the heightened awareness of the initiate. “Rat- grey fungus, glutting on our cache” is personification, it conjures images of rotting carcass and he feels disappointment

The second poem I will work on is called “Death of a Naturalist”. It is about Heaney as a young lad collecting frogspawn. He was enthusiastic about the ...

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