Poetry appreciation of 'Death of a naturalist' by Seamus Heaney

as the first stanza draws to a close we learn that by frogs we can tell the weather ‘For they were yellow in the sun and brown/in rain.’ This is the typical child learning something new in school, and then assuming they know it all. From that I get the image of the child telling its mother ‘mum did you know…’ Where as an adult would dismiss it as merely a fact.   By the second stanza the poem takes a rather dark turn. All the positivity in the first stanza has been replaced with a sinister and morbid tone. The beginning of the stanza ‘ Then one hot day…fields were rank’ suggests the dramatic change in the mood .We know that this is another summer and the images portrayed are not so pleasing. Another important point is that at this stage Heaney’s interest in frogs has rapidly changed. This is because they are no longer ‘jellied/specks’ but ‘angry frogs’ seeking ‘vengeance’. Perhaps he is portraying them to be evil and gruesome creatures because he has a guilty conscious; and has developed slight paranoia in thinking this. It is the guilt that attacks him after taking the frogspawn not the frogs. This is the reason he describes the frogs to be ugly and threatening. We know that this experience has caused the ‘death’ of a naturalist when he says ‘I sickened, turned, and ran.’    Throughout the poem Heaney makes excellent use of various imagery techniques such as metaphors and similes. An example of a powerful metaphor is ‘Wove a strong gauze of sound’. This is effective because ‘gauze’ is something we consider as being solid and in this case hits you hard. By referring to the sound to a ‘gauze’ it is as if we can’t get away from the sound, it surrounds you. Which I think is quite fitting for a bluebottle. Another thing is that Heaney makes use of many onomatopoeic words, which makes his style so unique. I think this poem concentrates on the sounds more than any other of the senses. For example thick ‘slobber’ and ‘ coarse croaking’ which is also an example of alliteration. Also I would like to comment on the use of oxymoron. The title ‘Death of a Naturalist’ is one example and ‘gargled delicately’ another. ‘gargled delicately’ being my favourite because Heaney turns something considered positive (the bubbles) into something far more un-pleasant. This technique is effective because it changed the perspective of something for example; when considering something to be positive Heaney makes us look at it in a different light.   The style of the poem is set into two stanzas. The reason for this is he is talking about different periods and indicates this by separating the stanzas. Lengths of sentences vary in the poem. We have long sentences when describing and setting an atmosphere ‘All year the flax-dam festered in the heart/Of the townland…’ and short sentences to create tension ‘I sickened, turned, and ran.’ Also the poem has no particular set pattern to it: Heaney makes use of enjambment to make the poem run smoothly because he is telling a story. Also, in the first stanza we know he is a child ‘Miss Walls would tell us…’ because a nature lesson in school has interested the child about frogs. By the second stanza we know he is an adult, because he now has grown up and lost his innocence. Which brings me to the theme of the poem: loss of innocence. It is significant that this poem is written from an adult perspective looking back on a childhood experience because now he has grown up; he has a wider knowledge and perspective of the world around him. When we are a children we are restricted to only one explanation of things; Perhaps because of what a parent has told us and we grow up believing that explanation. When we are adults we can explore and find answers ourselves and make our own decisions. Another thing the poem is saying is that when we are younger we are almost not afraid of anything. As we become older our fear develops because we are more likely conscious of the everyday dangers in life.   My response to this poem is that I enjoyed it very much. Some aspects I enjoyed more than others. When I first read the poem I could not discover much depth in it. After thoroughly reading it my thoughts changed and I realised that the poem was not all about frogs. It was a case of reading between the lines. Heaney’s overall message fascinated me and urged me to delve more into the subject of ‘loss of innocence’. Which set me on a train of thought. One thing in particular that made the poem more enjoyable for myself was Heaney’s flair for style. The way in which he concentrates on the onomatopoeia in the poem is very effective. As I had not previously read any other of Heaney’s poems this immediately drew my attention. Another thing I liked was the images he created in my mind. One of those images were (in the second stanza); a battlefield where the child is on one side and the frogs are his opposition and the frogs are invading the land-similar to a war scenario. Therefore I would highly recommend this poet simply for Heaney’s unique style of writing.