Death of a Naturalist

1. Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney F/H

2. Themes/ideas Nature Growing up Military imagery First person monologue Key Terms: Onomatopoeia Personification Simile Metaphor Blank Verse The poem F/H

3. Death of a Naturalist All year the flax-dam festered in the heart Of the townland; green and heavy headed Flax had rotted there, weighted down by huge sods. Daily it sweltered in the punishing sun. Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell. There were dragon-flies, spotted butterflies, But best of all was the warm thick slobber Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water In the shade of the banks. Here, every spring I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied Specks to range on window-sills at home, On shelves at school, and wait and watch until The fattening dots burst into nimble- Swimming tadpoles. Miss Walls would tell us how The daddy frog was called a bullfrog And how he croaked and how the mammy frog Laid hundreds of little eggs and this was Frogspawn. You could tell the weather by frogs too For they were yellow in the sun and brown In rain. Then one hot day when fields were rank With cowdung in the grass the angry frogs Invaded the flax-dam; I ducked through hedges To a coarse croaking that I had not heard Before. The air was thick with a bass chorus. Right down the dam gross-bellied frogs were cocked On sods; their loose necks pulsed like sails. Some hopped: The slap and plop were obscene threats. Some sat Poised like mud grenades, their blunt heads farting. I sickened, turned, and ran. The great slime kings Were gathered there for vengeance and I knew That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it. ‘flax-dam’. A flax dam is a pool where bundles of flax are placed for about three weeks to soften the stems Flax is an annual plant (it grows from seed) some one to two feet high, with blue flowers Two stanzas break this blank-verse poem up. Read the poem and suggest reasons for the change of stanza 5 Positive Adventurous Full of wonder 10 15 20 Heaney explains a change in his attitude to the natural world, a sort of before and after Negative Frightened Full of disgust 25 30 F/H

4. Death of a Naturalist All year the flax-dam festered in the heart Of the townland; green and heavy headed Flax had rotted there, weighted down by huge sods. Daily it sweltered in the punishing sun. Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell. There were dragon-flies, spotted butterflies, But best of all was the warm thick slobber Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water In the shade of the banks. Here, every spring I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied Specks to range on window-sills at home, On shelves at school, and wait and watch until The fattening dots burst into nimble- Swimming tadpoles. Miss Walls would tell us how The daddy frog was called a bullfrog And how he croaked and how the mammy frog Laid hundreds of little eggs and this was Frogspawn. You could tell the weather by frogs too For they were yellow in the sun and brown In rain. Heaney describes the simple joy of finding frogspawn as a child in a poem full of natural imagery both positive and negative. He talks of his teacher’s encouragement and of the volume of frogspawn he’d collect. Then one hot day when fields were rank With cowdung in the grass the angry frogs Invaded the flax-dam; I ducked through hedges To a coarse croaking that I had not heard Before. The air was thick with a bass chorus. Right down the dam gross-bellied frogs were cocked On sods; their loose necks pulsed like sails. Some hopped: The slap and plop were obscene threats. Some sat Poised like mud grenades, their blunt heads farting. I sickened, turned, and ran. The great slime kings Were gathered there for vengeance and I knew That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it. The second stanza is full of negative natural imagery as he describes his horror at a near Biblical plague plague of frogs who, he thinks, want revenge for the stolen frogspawn F/H

5. Death of a Naturalist What is a naturalist? In what sense is one dead? All year the flax-dam festered in the heart Of the townland; green and heavy headed Flax had rotted there, weighted down by huge sods. Daily it sweltered in the punishing sun. Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell. There were dragon-flies, spotted butterflies, But best of all was the warm thick slobber Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water In the shade of the banks. Here, every spring I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied Specks to range on window-sills at home, On shelves at school, and wait and watch until The fattening dots burst into nimble- Swimming tadpoles. Miss Walls would tell us how The daddy frog was called a bullfrog And how he croaked and how the mammy frog Laid hundreds of little eggs and this was Frogspawn. You could tell the weather by frogs too For they were yellow in the sun and brown In rain. A metaphorical death of a metaphorical naturalist. A naturalist is a natural scientist (like David Attenborough) not a little boy. The death is the enthusiasm he had for nature and the naturalist he may have become. It’s a joke (of sorts) 5 10 15 F/H 20

6. The stanza is about childish glee. Why all the negatives? The stanza is about childish glee over frogspawn. How is it positive? All year the flax-dam festered in the heart Of the townland; green and heavy headed Flax had rotted there, weighted down by huge sods. Daily it sweltered in the punishing sun. Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell. There were dragon-flies, spotted butterflies, But best of all was the warm thick slobber Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water In the shade of the banks. Here, every spring I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied Specks to range on window-sills at home, On shelves at school, and wait and watch until The fattening dots burst into nimble- Swimming tadpoles. Miss Walls would tell us how The daddy frog was called a bullfrog And how he croaked and how the mammy frog Laid hundreds of little eggs and this was Frogspawn. You could tell the weather by frogs too For they were yellow in the sun and brown In rain. Does the child Heaney revel in the disgusting parts of nature? His childish curiosity making him blind to the horrible smells and sights. He does this every year. What does this tell us about the speaker 5 10 He is comfortable in his routine and these sights and sounds are familiar to him, not disgusting 15 F/H 20

7. Childish word/phrase What makes us think this is a child? All year the flax-dam festered in the heart Of the townland; green and heavy headed Flax had rotted there, weighted down by huge sods. Daily it sweltered in the punishing sun. Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell. There were dragon-flies, spotted butterflies, But best of all was the warm thick slobber Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water In the shade of the banks. Here, every spring I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied Specks to range on window-sills at home, On shelves at school, and wait and watch until The fattening dots burst into nimble- Swimming tadpoles. Miss Walls would tell us how The daddy frog was called a bullfrog And how he croaked and how the mammy frog Laid hundreds of little eggs and this was Frogspawn. You could tell the weather by frogs too For they were yellow in the sun and brown In rain. We are presented with images that older people would find unpleasant but here Heaney seems to enjoy them He goes to school 5 Does he really believe this was a useful tool for ‘telling’ the weather? Clear change of voice from more sophisticated language to that of a child suggesting Heaney is reliving his memories 10 15 F/H 20

8. What is the tone, mood of this stanza? How should it be read? All year the flax-dam festered in the heart Of the townland; green and heavy headed Flax had rotted there, weighted down by huge sods. Daily it sweltered in the punishing sun. Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell. There were dragon-flies, spotted butterflies, But best of all was the warm thick slobber Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water In the shade of the banks. Here, every spring I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied Specks to range on window-sills at home, On shelves at school, and wait and watch until The fattening dots burst into nimble- Swimming tadpoles. Miss Walls would tell us how The daddy frog was called a bullfrog And how he croaked and how the mammy frog Laid hundreds of little eggs and this was Frogspawn. You could tell the weather by frogs too For they were yellow in the sun and brown In rain. This stanza is very descriptive, the poet wants you to see and feel (share) in his childish joy Describing, in detail, the frogspawn becoming tadpoles suggests his wonder at the experience 5 10 Think of Digging, is Heaney using his pen to re-live parts of his, presumably happy, childhood? Could this suggest the explosive excitement he feels each time he sees this happen 15 20 F/H

9. We have moved forward from spring to a ‘hot’ possibly summer’s day. Is this the same summer or is he older? Is this the end of part of his childhood? Then one hot day when fields were rank With cowdung in the grass the angry frogs Invaded the flax-dam; I ducked through hedges To a coarse croaking that I had not heard Before. The air was thick with a bass chorus. Right down the dam gross-bellied frogs were cocked On sods; their loose necks pulsed like sails. Some hopped: The slap and plop were obscene threats. Some sat Poised like mud grenades, their blunt heads farting. I sickened, turned, and ran. The great slime kings Were gathered there for vengeance and I knew That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it. The familiar, friendly, comfortable childhood routine has become a nightmare The mood is very different to the first stanza. Look at the language used 25 30 Heaney imagines the frogs have gathered to claim revenge on him for stealing the frogspawn (their young) and if he tries to take more it would grip his hand F/H

10. In the first stanza Heaney impresses upon the reader the images of his idyllic summer The frogs were personified as ‘mammy’ and ‘daddy’ by the teacher and the young Heaney continues this theme. They’re ‘angry’ ‘kings’ who are gathered for ‘vengeance’ Then one hot day when fields were rank With cowdung in the grass the angry frogs Invaded the flax-dam; I ducked through hedges To a coarse croaking that I had not heard Before. The air was thick with a bass chorus. Right down the dam gross-bellied frogs were cocked On sods; their loose necks pulsed like sails. Some hopped: The slap and plop were obscene threats. Some sat Poised like mud grenades, their blunt heads farting. I sickened, turned, and ran. The great slime kings Were gathered there for vengeance and I knew That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it. Military imagery is used to evoke a feeling of fear in the reader but also to suggest the young Heaney’s fear Heaney uses onomatopoeia to give the reader a real sense of the horror he felt. He attempts to immerse the reader in the sounds. 25 30 The fear and discomfort may also come from this unusual invasion of a regular childhood haunt; could he be indignant at the intrusion of a ‘nature’ he is not used to? The moment that the “Death of a Naturalist” occured F/H

11. Comparisons Sonnet: Clare What themes/ideas and structural points could lead to comparison? The field mouse A Difficult Birth Death of a Naturalist The Eagle Patroling Barnegat Catrin F/H

12. Comparisons • Sonnet (Clare) – This poem shares the childish delight that is seen in nature in the first part of ‘D of a N’, but in Clare’s poem, this in not misplaced. • Patrolling Barnegat – The power of nature comes across very clearly in this poem by Whitman and it would also link to another Heaney poem – ‘Storm on the Island’. • The Field Mouse – Clarke’s poem involves the children coming to understand the violent side to the natural world and there is an even clearer link to the world beyond. F/H

13. Review • How would you react (as a young adult or as a child) to the sight of a horde of frogs invading a familiar place? • How far does this poem tell the truth about frogs and how far does it tell the reader about the power of imagination? • Is this poem comic, serious or both? How should it be read? Amused, horrified, embarrassed? Find quotations for each interpretation. • Heaney describes the frogs' heads as “farting”. As a boy he might have said this word to friends, but would not repeat it at home or write it in school work. How does it work in the poem? • Is it a good idea for teachers of the young to explain how animals live by describing them in human terms, like “mammy” (mum or mummy) and “daddy”? • How truthful is the title? Did Heaney really lose his interest in, and love of, nature. Or does the poem record only a dramatic change of attitude, or something else? Does this poem have anything in common with other poems by Heaney? • How far does it fit into a pattern of poems that show him not to be a real country person (like his father and grandfather) - because he can't dig. What else suggests this? F/H