Or, how is the poem “Death of a Naturalist” related to Heaney’s own childhood?

In “Death of a Naturalist” (1966), Seamus Heaney (1939-2013) tells the story of his own childhood. The poem tells the story of a young boy (the poet himself) who first loves nature with excitement, but later becomes afraid of it. The poem is based on Heaney’s own early life in the countryside of Northern Ireland. Many ideas, feelings, and pictures in the poem come from his personal memories. So, the poem has many autobiographical/personal elements. Let us trace the autobiographical elements from the poem below.

Childhood on a Farm: Seamus Heaney grew up on a farm called Mossbawn, in County Derry, Northern Ireland. There were fields, animals, frogs, dragonflies, wells, and streams. In the poem, the young speaker collects frogspawn from a “flax-dam.” This is not just imagination. It comes from Heaney’s real experience. As a child, he often played near ponds and watched frogs. This is why the descriptions feel so real. He gives a vivid picture of the flax-dam that gives a “festered smell” and “bubbles gargled delicately.” He writes about buzzing bluebottles (flies), croaking of frogs, dragonflies, and spotted butterflies.

“There were dragonflies, spotted butterflies.”

Young Heaney’s Curiosity: As a boy, Heaney loved nature. He was curious and excited to learn. The poem shows this excitement. The young boy in the poem collects frogspawn and keeps it in jars. He watches the small dots turn into tadpoles. He listens to his teacher, Miss Walls, talk about frogs. She tells the children about how “the daddy frog” croaks loudly and “the mammy frog”  lays hundreds of eggs. The boy also learns that the frogs look yellow in the sun and brown in the rain.

“For they [the frogs] were yellow in the sun and brown

In rain.”

The Sudden Fear: But childhood innocence does not last forever. The second half of the poem shows Heaney’s loss of childhood innocence. The boy in the poem returns to the flax-dam. The air is full of a terrible smell of cow dung. The frogs seem huge, ugly, and angry. Their bodies look swollen and slimy. The boy feels they are ready to take revenge for taking their frogspawn before. He thinks:

“The great slime kings

Were gathered there for vengeance.”

“I sickened, turned, and ran.”

Personal Emotions: The emotions in the poem, like wonder, curiosity, shock, and fear, come from Heaney’s own mind. He writes honestly about how childhood innocence slowly disappears, and a deeper understanding of the world begins. The fear of the frogs becomes a symbol of growing up. The emotions in the poem are strong autobiographical elements.

To sum up, “Death of a Naturalist” is more than a poem about frogs. It is a poem about Heaney’s own childhood. The farm setting, the excitement of collecting frogspawn, the sudden fear, and the emotional change all come from his personal memories. These autobiographical elements make the poem feel so real.