What is the tone of the poem ‘Death of a Naturalist’?

The tone of the poem ‘Death of a Naturalist’ by Seamus Heaney (1939 – 2013) changes clearly from the first part to the second part. In the beginning, the tone is warm. It is full of interest. The speaker sounds excited. He loves watching nature. He enjoys insects, smells, heat, and frogspawn. His tone is curious. It is childlike. He feels wonder. He feels joy. Even the dirty flax-dam feels magical to him. Nothing scares him.

The tone is also calm in the first part. The boy feels safe. The world feels simple. He learns about frogs in school. He listens to his teacher with pleasure. He waits for tadpoles with hope. Everything seems friendly.

But in the second part, the tone becomes dark. It becomes tense. The air feels heavy. The frogs seem angry. Their bodies look strange. Their sounds feel threatening. The speaker’s tone turns into fear. He no longer feels safe. He feels sick. He feels lost. The place he once loved now feels dangerous. The tone becomes full of shock and panic.

In the last lines, the tone becomes almost horror-like. The frogs are called “slime kings.” They seem to gather for revenge. The boy believes they will attack him. He runs away. So the tone moves from warm and happy to fearful and frightening. It shows the loss of a child’s innocence. It shows how one moment can change everything.