How nature is presented in the Death of a Naturalist :
In the Death of a Naturalist, Seamus Heanley draws inspiration upon his childhood in rural Northern
Ireland to portray nature in multiple lights through the perspective of a child and to simultaneously
reflect the loss of childhood innocence.
At the start of the first stanza, by describing the “flax-dam” as “festered”, implying a lack of growth,
Heanley portrays nature in a stagnant tone. He emphasises the dense atmosphere with "the punishing
sun". The overall description could on one hand be utilised to contrast and underline the speaker’s
childlike fascination with nature in the following lines, despite its apparent objective lack of appeal.
However, the adjective “punishing” could also be implying the dictatorial, unrelenting side of nature,
foreshadowing the “[threatening]” presentation of frogs in stanza 2. The title itself foreshadows the
metaphorical death of the speaker’s passion for nature; Additionally, the determiner “a” connotes a
generalisation of this demise- perhaps Heanley is suggesting that he intends to reflect the universal
experience of transition into puberty, and not just his personal experience.
Towards the middle of the first stanza, Heanley presents nature as an object of awe. The speaker declares
that the “best of all” was his “slobber of frogspawn that grew like clotted water”. Firstly, the superlative
“best’ expresses genuine appreciation for life in nature, whilst setting a childish tone with their
jest(alongside the noun “slobber”). The speaker, by using the metaphor of “slobber” and simile of
“clotted water” implies their innocence as this suggests that they do not comprehend the nature of
frogspawns, nor the transgression of taking away it from its mother. This could also be seen through the
adjective “clotted” which potentially has allusions to clotted cream- a manufactured product- which
could reflect him believing that nature was made especially for him and therefore again project his
enthusiasm towards it. Further into the stanza, this attitude is upheld with the phrase “jampots of the
jellied specks”. It is not only another metaphor, but also an alliteration of the j sound. Throughout stanza
1, Heanley uses a range of alliterations to build a sense of harmony, and perhaps to allude to rhymes-
reflecting the persona’s youth. In this instance, the alliteration could suggest how the speaker perceives
In the Death of a Naturalist, Seamus Heanley draws inspiration upon his childhood in rural Northern
Ireland to portray nature in multiple lights through the perspective of a child and to simultaneously
reflect the loss of childhood innocence.
At the start of the first stanza, by describing the “flax-dam” as “festered”, implying a lack of growth,
Heanley portrays nature in a stagnant tone. He emphasises the dense atmosphere with "the punishing
sun". The overall description could on one hand be utilised to contrast and underline the speaker’s
childlike fascination with nature in the following lines, despite its apparent objective lack of appeal.
However, the adjective “punishing” could also be implying the dictatorial, unrelenting side of nature,
foreshadowing the “[threatening]” presentation of frogs in stanza 2. The title itself foreshadows the
metaphorical death of the speaker’s passion for nature; Additionally, the determiner “a” connotes a
generalisation of this demise- perhaps Heanley is suggesting that he intends to reflect the universal
experience of transition into puberty, and not just his personal experience.
Towards the middle of the first stanza, Heanley presents nature as an object of awe. The speaker declares
that the “best of all” was his “slobber of frogspawn that grew like clotted water”. Firstly, the superlative
“best’ expresses genuine appreciation for life in nature, whilst setting a childish tone with their
jest(alongside the noun “slobber”). The speaker, by using the metaphor of “slobber” and simile of
“clotted water” implies their innocence as this suggests that they do not comprehend the nature of
frogspawns, nor the transgression of taking away it from its mother. This could also be seen through the
adjective “clotted” which potentially has allusions to clotted cream- a manufactured product- which
could reflect him believing that nature was made especially for him and therefore again project his
enthusiasm towards it. Further into the stanza, this attitude is upheld with the phrase “jampots of the
jellied specks”. It is not only another metaphor, but also an alliteration of the j sound. Throughout stanza
1, Heanley uses a range of alliterations to build a sense of harmony, and perhaps to allude to rhymes-
reflecting the persona’s youth. In this instance, the alliteration could suggest how the speaker perceives
