In ‘Death of a Naturalist’ the poem is split into two stanzas; this separates the poets’ opinion in two, full of enthusiasm in one
‘I would fill jam pots full of……’
To the lack of enthusiasm in the second
‘I sickened, turned, and ran’
‘Digging’ is split into many stanza’s of seemingly almost random length, nut when you look closer you see that they get longer when the poem read to better things, for example the poet get most enthusiastic when he remembers his grandfather this is reflected in the fact that this stanza is by far the longest at eight lines.
Rhyming isn’t used widely in either poem although it is introduced briefly at the beginning of ‘Digging’
‘And my thumb… snug as a gun.’
There is no rhyme used in ‘Death of a Naturalist’ due to the fact that it’s more like a remembered story so it isn’t really necessary. Seamus Heaney also uses enjambment to keep the poem more authentic and story like.
In both poems the poet uses figurative language to great effect, and you get the feeling that each image has a double meaning, from ‘Digging’ I chose this example
‘The squat pen rests: snug as a gun’
The word squat could mean short or low or disproportionately wide, but it could also mean to ‘unlawfully occupy a space.’ Although in this extract I think the first mention analysis is probably the most likely. The poet describes the pen as squat, like it doesn’t fit right in his hand.
The use of the word ‘rests’ could mean to cease work, or to rest on, as in to depend on but in this case I am more inclined to believe it is just to be placed on and stay in a specified position. The word rest is linked to the word sleep which makes you think of comfort. So now the writer is going back on his almost insult to the pen to say it now rests ‘snug as a gun.’ This phrase describes the way the pen rests as warm and cosy, like a gun ready to be used as his weapon.
An example of the use of similes in ‘Death of a Naturalist’ is
‘Poised like mud grenades’
I think this sentence gives off very strong visual images, as you really can imagine these frogs all lines up, almost like soldiers ready to attack at any moment;
Lexical fields are also used to add to the hostile atmosphere, with a reoccurring use of war related words such as
‘Invaded…vengeance…angry…grenade..’
The use of the ‘kings’ adds to the war affect, but brings the reader back in time to when kings were bigger, more powerful and would lead their people into battle.
Alliteration is widely used in both poems although more extensively in ‘Digging’ to create a sense of reality in the poems, so we not only read the word and see the images but we also hear the sounds making them three dimensional.
‘Spade sinks into gravely ground.’
The poet contrast the sounds in this sentence, having the sharp s’s in spade sinks contrasting with the ‘gravely grr’ sounds of ‘gravely ground.’
The tone of ‘Digging’ is set by the admiration he feels for his grandfather
‘By god, the old man could handle a spade’
The poet speaks with high passion for him throughout the poem.
This is different to ‘Death of a Naturalist’ as it separates into two stanza’s, the tone of the poem changes from an intrigued, enthusiastic child ‘Best of all….’ to that of a scared and intimidated person in the other ‘Gathered there for vengeance’
There are examples of onomatopoeia in both poems although it isn’t used at length in either. I noticed ‘slap’ is used in both poems, both in descriptions of mud or dirt sentences, showing the link in the poets’ language.
Overall I enjoyed both poems though I did prefer ‘Digging’ as I like the way the poet flicked back and forth through time. I could also visualise this poem more, like a film, which I liked. I also like the cast use of alliteration which made the poem kind of roll off your tongue. There is also a really good use of onomatopoeia in the poem in the second stanza.
‘Under my window a clean rasping sound’
This sentence really draws you into the poem and you can almost hear the rasping as the shovel sinks into the ground. To sum up, all of these factors and more are the reason as to why I prefer ‘Digging’
