The title "Death of a Naturalist” shows the poem is about the ugly side of nature and suggests that Heaney was indeed a naturalist and loved nature but the events during the poem is going to alter this. The use of unattractive words such as “rotted” and “sweltered” makes the reader visualise the disgusting flax-dam “festering in the heart of the town land”. The rhythm in the first stanza is very slow and heavy; this is caused by words difficult to pronounce or else images that disgust the reader: “daily it sweltered in the punishing sun”. Heaney was obviously very interested in and very knowledgeable about nature as he knew all the different insects by colour:“ there were dragon flies, spotted butterflies” and yet he was only a young boy. We know that Heaney received great pleasure from nature as he enjoyed the seasonal ritual of collecting frogspawn, Heaney makes the act of collecting frogspawn appear as a very enjoyable activity for the child, describing it in detail from the perspective of an enthusiastic child. For example we are told that “best of all was the warm thick slobber, of frogspawn that grew like clotted water in the shade of the banks.” Heaney also uses precise descriptive words to enable the reader to visualise the frogspawn, words such as “jellied specks”. The next few lines reveal the innocence and fascination of the children as they “wait and watch”. The rhythm of the poem suddenly quickens as the “fattening dots burst into nimble swimming tadpoles.” .The phrase “burst into nimble-swimming tadpoles ” gives the reader an overwhelming sense of freedom.
A very romantic, infant view of nature is portrayed in the next few lines of the poem. Heaney retells how Miss Walls would tell her pupils all about the “daddy frog” and the “mammy frog”, and how the “mammy frog” laid “ hundreds of little eggs, and this was frogspawn.” These lines create an almost picture perfect view of nature. Heaney was obviously very young when this incident happened as he recalls Miss Walls also saying “ you could tell the weather by the frogs too”.
The emphasis is on the word “too” it appears that the boy considered frogs to be marvellous.
An unpleasant mood is created in the second stanza of the poem; this is due to unpleasantly descriptive phrases, such as “one hot day”, and “fields were rank “and” angry frogs. Throughout the poem Heaney invokes almost all of the reader’s senses. He enables the reader to visualise the “ flax-dam festering”, hear “the bubbles gargling delicately” and touch the “warm thick slobber”. Again now the reader is able to imagine the air being “thick with a bass chorus”. The child had not heard the “ coarse croaking” before and this adds suspense to the poem, as it was new and exciting. Heaney makes effective use of words and phrases to suggest that the frogs were indeed going to attack the young boy, such as “ angry frogs invaded”. Heaney perceives their existence as harmful to himself and disastrous for nature. This feeling is strengthened when the frogs’ emergence is metaphorically compared to a plague-like attack: “poised like mud-grenades”. Heaney was so sure that the frogs were going to attack him that he turned and fled. The fact is that it was Heaney’s imagination and guilt that has made this incident frightening. One of the reasons Heaney may have been so afraid is that the frogs appeared to be nothing like the “mammy frog” and “daddy frog” that Miss Walls presented. The delight is now gone, and in the boys vivid imagination nature is now sinister and grotesque.
In this poem Heaney has effectively managed to pull the reader into the poem. He does this in several ways such as writing about real life events and something that almost anyone can relate too; also Heaney uses simple but yet captivating language along with onomatopoeic words and precise descriptions.
“Nutting” begins with the boy Wordsworth setting out on an expedition to gather nuts in the eagerness of “boyish hope”. He is clearly hoping for a large amount of treasure as he sets off with a “huge wallet” and “nutting crook”. Wordsworth makes mild mockery of himself being a “figure quaint” as he is dressed in a “proud disguise of cast-off weeds”. The poem continues with Wordsworth describing the terrain over which he walks; “o’er pathless rocks”. The use of “T” and “Th” words impedes the flow of words and causes the reader to slow down, thus imitating Wordsworth’s struggle through the “tangled thickets”. Wordsworth is then delighted as he finds a “dear nook” with plenty of “tempting clusters”. Unlike the “festering flax-dam” in Heaneys’ poem the scene that Wordsworth describes is much more appealing. He describes it as “a virgin scene”, one that has not been spoilt in any way. This creates an idyllic scene, one that the reader is able to visualise. The boy spends time exploring the “dear nook” revealing many pleasurable features such as an abundance of flowers. Wordsworth further enables the reader to imagine the scene and make it appear beautiful as he describes a small stream “murmuring”. After a short period of gazing on the scene and enjoying its beauty the boy “rose and dragged to earth both branch and bow with crash and merciless ravage”. In the boy’s mind he has committed a dreadful crime and that he has “deformed and sullied” the tree. He feels a tremendous sense of guilt over what many would regard as a trivial action; however, this may show Wordsworth’s tremendous respect and honour for nature as it suggests that he feels nothing should be done to harm nature. The word “mutilated” shows how dreadful of a deed the boy feels he has done.
The boy returns home “ rich beyond the wealth of kings” but yet he feels a great sense of pain as the “silent trees” rebuked him for what he had done. He felt so strongly about this that he warned others to be respectful of nature as “there is a spirit in the woods”.
Both poems reveal that nature provides great joy and pleasure as well as guilt and fear. In both poems the fear and guilt are caused by the mind of the young boys and not by nature. I preferred Heaney’s poem, as the experience described was something very real that I could identify with. He uses simple and effective language that invokes many of the reader’s senses.