How effectively does Heaney describe the transition from innocence to experience in 'The Early Purges' and 'Death of a Naturalist'?

Authors Avatar

Sahil Singh                                                                                               08/05/2007

GCSE Coursework

English: English Literary Heritage: Poetry

English Literature: Poetry (post-1914)

Seamus Heaney (1939-)

How effectively does Heaney describe the transition from innocence to experience in ‘The Early Purges’ and ‘Death of a Naturalist’?

‘The Early Purges’ presents the contrast between the practical realities of farm life where the death of animals is treated as a way of life and, on the other hand, the initial squeamishness of the poet as a child and the sentimental attitude of the town dwellers towards animals. ‘Death of a Naturalist’ is concerned with growing up and loss of innocence. Seamus Heaney vividly describes a childhood experience that precipitates a change in the boy from the receptive and protected innocence of childhood to the fear and uncertainty of adolescence.        

‘Death of a Naturalist’ is set out in two sections of blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter lines). Heaney uses onomatopoeia more lavishly here than in any poem - and many of the sounds are very indelicate: ‘gargled’, ‘slap and plop’ and ‘farting’. In ‘The Early Purges’, the poem is clearly divided into seven stanzas with the first and third lines of each stanza rhyming.

‘Death of a Naturalist’ has a fairly simple structure. In the first section, Heaney describes how the frogs would spawn in the ‘lint hole’, with a digression into his collecting the spawn, and how his teacher encouraged his childish interest in the process. The speaker is arguably Heaney himself as a child, showing his interest in the science of nature, but also showing disgust at nature in the raw.

Join now!

In ‘The Early Purges’, the poem begins with a one-line sentence, a blunt factual statement summarising the incident. Heaney uses monosyllabic words such as ‘drown’, ‘trapped’, ‘snared’, ‘shot’ or ‘tug’ to describe the various ways in which animals are killed on the farm. These words show that country life could be brutal because it was not necessarily enjoyable to kill these animals, but it was something that had to be done. The images that Heaney uses here, such as ‘with a sickening tug, pulled old hens’ necks.’ are not pleasant but are extremely effective in describing the culling of animals on ...

This is a preview of the whole essay