Death of a Naturalist

him as being both a master of handling a spade and horse plough. On the other hand, Heaney comes to terms with the fact he ‘has no spade to follow men like them’, realising he has a metaphorical method of digging. His pen is the one that will do the digging and hard work for him, this is displayed in his work. From Follower, we gather this image of Heaney’s father being a strong man as a result of the way he has been portrayed. However, in Mid Term Break we see that that’s not always the case. He’s seen ‘crying’ this time in a moment of weakness, but Heaney interpretation of this could be ambiguous. The poem brings forth the sense of community and family, but also death. Death also happens to be a common theme, whether it’s people dying, nature, or the land. We can see this in other poems such as Death of a Naturalist, which shows the loss of innocence which begins to die in a child and the realities of life which begin to be slowly understood are and brought to life thanks to Heaney’s confrontation with the defensive ‘angry frogs’ which seek vengeance. This is also a confrontation with life in a sense. As seen before in Follower, Heaney is being a ‘nuisance’ to the frogs. Much like he was on the farm on his own land, he is now doing the same in another territory. The frogs are also described as ‘sails’. This also shows their power which could be admirable. We also see a change from tadpoles to frogs, which is in an identical vein from child to adult. Development through…

In Seamus Heaney’s “Mid-Term Break,” the speaker is a young teenage boy off at school, who receives information about his brother’s death. As the speaker arrives at his home he is greeted by his family, and friends mourning his loss with him. A few hours later the ambulance arrives with his brother’s body cleaned up, and bandaged by the nurses. The following morning he makes his way up to his sibling’s bedside to say his goodbyes. By analyzing the images and diction in the poem, a reader can…

someone is touching him, which allows the reader to understand the trouble he is having not showing any emotion. When the “old men [stood] up to shake [his] hand/ And [telling him] there were ‘sorry for [his] trouble”, it demonstrated how Heaney was almost panicked due to the overwhelming scene he was in. In addition, the location of the enjambement is only where someone is touching him. Such as when “his mother held [his] hand it was almost like, by seeing everyone else in their state of…

Tragedy “Mid- Term Break” is a poem written by Seamus Heaney. This poem concerns a mournful young man grieving a death in the family, which is believed to be a possible younger brother. “I saw him for the first time in six weeks. Paler now (line 18).” Heaney uses language throughout the poem to show that something bad has happened and the cruel reality of a death in the family. “Mid- Term Break” conveys real-life problems to show that death is always around the corner, no matter how old you…

“Home Burial” by Robert Frost and “Mid-Term Break” by Seamus Heaney are both poems that contain death of a child, pain, and grief. By the title of “Home Burial” it gives us readers an insight that the husband has buried their first-born child, a boy, in the graveyard behind his house. Furthermore, it demonstrates how one tragedy can lead to another. “Mid-Term Break” gives an example of how life can be cheerful at one moment, and when you least expect it life can come to an end. Is the grieving…

As still being a younger person, it is likely that the narrator has never experienced death before. The lack of experience could serve as an explanation for the vagueness of the poem. In the final stanzas the narrator delivers the strongest imagery in the entire piece to the reader. The narrator describes his brother as being “paler now and wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple.” Those descriptions serve to shock the reader and show the reader how terrible the child’s death was, but yet the…

J-Term is a three week process of hands on, career exploration, and internships during the month of January that take place at Lyndon Institute. For J-Term you pick three to four classes that interest you, while some students continue with their advanced placement classes. In some opinions this period of time is a waste but in others they enjoyed it very much. In my own thoughts, I think J-Term has a purpose to teach us that it’s not just about cramming for the A and is more to improve your…

Loss of innocence can be a result from conflict and is something that everyone experiences. The following writers give an example of how it can change us forever. Blackberry Picking shows Seamus Heaney looking back on a childhood pastime of picking blackberries where eventually he feels guilty over the unnecessary amount he gathers. Similarly, Death of a Naturalist also written by Heaney is about the narrator stealing frog spawn. The idea of war is hinted at and the effects of the loss of…

‘Blackberry Picking’ and ‘Death of a Naturalist’ are both about insignificant events in his time. Both poems share similar themes: life, loss of childhood innocence and expectations and disappointment. The themes were conveyed through Heaney’s manipulation of the poem structure and his use of deliberately picked words and phrases. In this essay, I will be discussing about how his use of the poem structure and language expresses the themes of the two poems. Firstly, the poem ‘Blackberry Picking’…

through Jesus and life after death exemplified with the Holy Spirit. In contrast, Naturalist deny human beings were created by a God but were instead another random creation formed with the use of matter and the cosmos. Not formed or thought to be anything special, human beings are equivocated to a machine. Which means the way in which we function is determined by physical and chemical processes that occur in the body. Because man is a machine, naturalists also deny the presence or existence…