By Emily Ashford Essay

In the course of this essay I want to contrast and compare two poems by the Irish poet Seamus Heaney. His anthology â€Å"Death of a Naturalist† was written in reflection of childhood and the loss of innocence possibly based on his own experiences. This anthology has received much praise and recognition over the past few decades. Seamus was brought up in the deep hearted countryside of Ireland. He grew up alongside nature and alongside 8 other children, although he was the oldest and maybe understood some things before the other children; such as death and the â€Å"facts of life. † In the poems â€Å"Death of a Naturalist† he learns the true realities of nature, and how the frogspawn and frogs come to be there. In â€Å"The Early Purges† he learns not to be sympathetic toward cute and fluffy but ultimately resource draining animals. Both settings are rural rather than urban however, the each poem focuses on different areas of the countryside; â€Å"Death of a Naturalist† is based around where â€Å"all the year flax-dam† grows. Flax – dam it a stagnant pond where harvested flax is left to decompose to prepare for manufacture into linen and other materials. The poem is narrated by a young boy, he is recalling events in which he explored nature where the â€Å"flax – dam festered in the heart of the townland. † This implies that, at this time in the boys life, nature was especially important. In â€Å"The Early Purges† events are recalled on a farm. A â€Å"well run† farm where delicate and unnecessary animals are seen as â€Å"scraggy wee shits† and are slaughtered. The poem is narrated again, from a young boy’s perspective and perhaps even the perspective of the poet himself. Through the boys interaction with nature we are reminded and recognize the childhood innocence. In â€Å"Death of a Naturalist† the boy is fascinated with nature to the extent that even the most trivial and perhaps annoying things to most adults, such as â€Å"bluebottles† and â€Å"the warm thick slobber of frogspawn† become exciting to him. He likes these things â€Å"best of all. † The way nature is presented also shows us a childish imagination where many things are considered and elaborated in a way only a child could think. Also through the eyes of a child we learn about death, where at first this brutal inevitability â€Å"frightened† him. However, again the boy’s fascination with this process of killing and decaying is described in every detail. After the â€Å"kittens drown† and their â€Å"tiny din†¦ soused† the boy watches the corpses and follows the process of deterioration. Both poems involve a change in attitude, each of these changes represent a loss of innocence. In â€Å"Death of a Naturalist† this change is represented from the start of the second stanza. Contrasting to the first stanza he begins to describe the flax-dam in a negative way. Where it was once â€Å"green and heavy headed† it has now been invaded by â€Å"angry frogs† Seamus also uses military terms and plenty of similes and metaphors; like â€Å"blunt heads farting,† to draw attention to how daunting nature can be to a child.