The poem is called Death of a Naturalist and it was written by Seamus Heaney. It is about a young boy who loves nature, especially frogs and frogspawn, and the poem details that as he gets older his views of nature sour and he begins to hate it. The themes are growing up, how people’s opinions change and the power of the imagination. They are illustrated by the effective use of a variety of poetic techniques.

Throughout the first stanza, Heaney uses a number of poetic techniques to convey that the boy is young. The quotations of “daddy frog” and “mammy frog” utilise word choice to appropriately suggest that the boy is young because he does not use the technical terms and instead uses basic words a young child would be familiar with. In addition, the utilisation of imagery in “on shelves at school,” successfully conveys that the boy is young because it tells us that the boy is still at school. Furthermore, “fattening dots,” is an example of imagery which effectively illustrate that the boy is young because he does not understand what the frogspawn is and instead just calls it “fattening dots,” as a young child probably would. Finally, the use of word choice in “jampotfuls,” clearly suggests that the boy is young because filling jampotfuls of frogspawn is a traditional activity that many young people would do at school or as a hobby.

In stanza 1, poetic techniques are also used to convey the idea that the boy likes the flax-dam and its surroundings. The use of imagery in “Bubbles gargled delicately,” successfully portrays how the boy likes the flax-dam because it suggests that the boy finds something as simple and mundane as bubbles bursting, beautiful and gentle. Moreover, “best of all was the warm thick slobber of frogspawn,” is an example of imagery which clearly suggests that the boy likes the flax-dam because it gives the impression the boy thinks most things in the flax-dam are good, but the frogspawn stands above the rest as the boy’s favourite thing about the flax-dam. Similarly, the utilisation of word choice in “I would fill jampotfuls,” appropriately portrays the boy likes the flax-dam by suggesting that he is not content with just one jampotful of frogspawn, but he needs lots to be  truly content. Furthermore, the use of imagery in “jellied specks,” effectively portrays that the boy likes the flax-dam because he does not describe them in a negative way, but instead uses more positive terms to replace the technical terms. This positive attitude makes the flax-dam where they are located a more likeable place to him. In addition, “There were dragon-flies, spotted butterflies,” is a use of imagery which clearly suggests the boy likes the flax-dam because it shows the boy has knowledge of the different animals that inhabit the flax-dam.

Also, stanza 1 uses a lot of poetic techniques to illustrate that the boy is fascinated by frogs and frogspawn. “Here, every Spring,” is an example of word choice that successfully illustrates  that the boy is fascinated by frogs and frogspawn because he find the need to go back over and over again to collect more frogspawn every Spring. In a similar manner, the use of imagery in “specks to range on window-sills at home, shelves at school,” clearly portrays that the boy is fascinated by frogspawn because collecting frogspawn is obviously something he does not just do at school as he would only collect frogspawn at home if it fascinated him enough. Moreover, “You could tell the weather by frogs too,” is an example of word choice that clearly illustrates the boy’s fascination with frogs because the boy knows quite a strange fact about frog which is not common knowledge, so he must be fascinated by frogs to go to the trouble of finding that out. Furthermore, the use of the word “too” gives the impression that the boy thinks this is just one of many different fascinating facts. In addition, the utilisation of repetition in “and wait and watch,” cleverly conveys that the boy is fascinated by frogs and frogspawn because he is willing to wait a long time just to see the frogs hatch. The repetition of “and” helps slow the line down further to improve the idea the quotation portrays. Yet another example of the boy’s fascination with frogspawn is the use of imagery in “the fattening dots burst into nimble swimming tadpoles,” because he uses a lot of positive descriptive language to describe them. He does this because he most likely does not know the more technical terms, but also because he likes to detail them hugely in his fascination.

Yet, the phrase “The one hot day,” changes the tone of the poem by introducing a new time and season to represent the boys change of attitude towards frogs, frogspawn and nature in general.

Indeed, disgust is a theme presented by poetic techniques throughout the second stanza. The use of imagery in “the great slime kings,” appropriately illustrates that the boy is disgusted by frogs because the word “king” suggests a great person with a lot of power and the use of “slime” is to show disgust suggests that the frogs are “kings” of disgust. Furthermore, the utilisation of the simile, “loose necks pulsed like sails,” clearly conveys that the boy is disgusted by frogs because the frogs are merely breathing, but the boy takes the simple and essential action and turns it into something negative in this head. In a similar fashion, “gross-bellied frogs,” is an example of imagery that clearly portrays that the boy is disgusted by frogs because he attaches a negative connotation to the frogs to describe them with the disgust he perceives when he looks at them. Moreover, the utilisation of word choice in “I sickened, turned and ran,” cleverly suggest that the boy is disgusted by frogs and frogspawn because “sickened” gives the idea of something that is very disgusting to him and the fact that he “ran” further enhances the impression that the frogs were so disgusting they were overwhelmed the boy and caused him to flee. Finally, the use of word choice  in “blunt heads farting,” successfully illustrates that the boy is disgusted by frogs  because the word “blunt” suggest flat and ugly, and “farting” conveys the disgust he feels when he looks at the frogs’ heads.

In a similar manner, poetic techniques are also used a lot throughout stanza two to convey the boy’s feeling of being threatened by the frogs. “Indeed the flax-dam,” is a use of imagery that clearly portrays that the boy feels threatened by the frogs because the word “Invade,” suggests that the frogs are an army attacking the flax-dam and in his head thinks they are probably looking for him. Similarly, the utilisation of the simile “poised like mud grenades,” appropriately conveys that the boy feels threatened by the frogs because “grenades” are weapons of war and the boy feels the frogs about to explode into an attack on him. Moreover, the quotation of “gathered there for vengeance,” is an example of imagery which successfully conveys that the boys is scared and threatened by the frogs because he believes that the frogs have all grouped together for the single purpose of getting revenge on him for stealing their frogspawn. In addition, “turned and ran,” is an utilisation of word choice which clearly suggests that the boy is scared because the mere presence of the frogs was enough to make the boy run away in terror. Finally, the use of imagery in “the spawn would clutch it,” clearly illustrates that the that the boy feels threatened by the frogspawn because he believes that the frogspawn will all work as a single entity and grab him, even though frogspawn is merely eggs and no concept of revenge or violence.

As well as disgust, the power of the imagination is an important concept, conveyed by poetic techniques, that allows the boy to believe and perceive the world in a very strange or twisted way. “cocked on sods,” is an example of imagery which successfully portrays the power of the boy’s imagination because he believes that the frogs are ready to leap at him, like a bullet from a gun, in a frenzy of violence. Furthermore, the utilisation of word choice in “obscene threats” effectively conveys the power of the boy’s imagination because the frogs have no concept of threats. The threats are those created solely inside the boy’s mind. Finally, “the great slime kings,” is a use of imagery which successfully illustrates the power of the imagination because the boy sees in his mind that these little frogs are mighty rulers with great power when they are just small amphibians.

The things I enjoyed about the poem were the themes of the power of the imagination and how a person’s view can change drastically over time. The boy’s views on nature were described well over the poem with an effective use of poetic techniques. “Death of a Naturalist” is a suitable title because at the beginning the boy was very much a naturalist because of both his knowledge and fascination with nature. By stanza two, however, his love of nature had died and been replaced by both a fear and a disgust of nature. Stanza two signified the death of the part of his character that loved nature. The part of him that was a naturalist was dead.