Death of a Naturalist (1966) is a collection of poems written by Seamus Heaney, who received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. The collection is the first large volume published by Heaney, and covers the ideas he presented at The Belfast Group meeting. Death of a Naturalist won the Cholmondeley Award, the Gregory Award, the Somerset Maugham Award, and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize.
This work consists of 34 short poems and mostly related to childhood experiences and the formulation of adult identity, family relationships, and rural life. The collection begins with one of Heaney's famous poems, "Digging", and includes the famous "Death of a Naturalist" and "Mid-Term Break".
Video Death of a Naturalist
Poems
"Death of a Naturalist", the collection's second poem, details the exploitation of a boy collecting frogspawn from a hemp dam. The narrator remembers everything he saw and felt at the time. He then remembers his teacher telling him all about the frog in the section that talks a lot about childhood innocence. Finally, we heard about the trip to the hemp dam which went wrong. He feels threatened by frogs and lice. His interest in nature has been lost - this is the death of a "naturalist" suggested in the title of the poem. This poem uses onomatopoeia extensively and similes that compare amphibian behavior with war ("Some sit like mud grenades") among other techniques.
"Mid-Term Break" is a reflection on the death of Heaney's brother, Christopher, while Heaney is in school. He described the different ways his parents showed their sorrows, the visitors who paid tribute, and his encounter with the corpse's body in the coffin the next day. The poem focuses on the concrete facts of Heaney's experience and "catches a boy's awareness of death." The last line ("Four square feet, one foot each year.") Emphasizing the dead end.
"Digging" is one of Heaney's most read poems. It discusses the theme of time and history and the cyclical nature of both through the character of his father's narrator dug in the swamps on their family farm. He admired his father's skills and relationships with his shovel, but declared that he would dig with a pen instead. This is important because it shows Heaney's ownership of his work as a poet and names the pen as his principal and most powerful tool. While exploring the mental swamp of his mind by writing, Heaney believes he can gain a better understanding of the living history in the surrounding land, and a better understanding of himself.
"Personal Helicon" is the last poem in Heaney's first collection. Helicon refers to mountains in Greek mythology dedicated to the Greek god Apollo, who is the God of poetry. In the mountains live nine muses, each representing poetic inspiration. In Helicon Heaney is a well that shows that his inspiration comes from within the earth rather than on it. This theme echoes in his work in poetry "Digging" or in later Po Po. He also stated that he rhymes "see himself," echoing the common theme found in the poem "Digging" that he uses poetry to understand the depth of the well and his shadow in it. Throughout the poem, Heaney invites the reader through every stage of his life to the point he writes Personal Helicon. He reveals to the reader how he lost sight of the outward inspiration he was looking for as a child, and instead looks to himself. This can be seen when he states, "Staring, Narcissus big eyed into the spring under all the dignity of an adult". In this quote he is parallel to Narcissus, a hunter in Greek Mythology who is cursed to fall in love with his own shadow by the goddess Nemesis after he avoids Echo, an Oread angel. The reader can see that for a short time after his college experience, Heaney only relies on himself for inspiration. Eventually he realized his mistake, and unlike Narcissus, was able to bring himself back into the real world.
Maps Death of a Naturalist
Reception
Death of a Naturalist was received with most positive reviews and helped Heaney gain recognition on an international scale. Several poems have been published previously in pamphlets such as "Eleven Poems" (1965) and drew attention to reviews in Telegraph Belfast, Death of a Naturalist received over 30 major reviews in Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Fellow poets Michael Longley and Brendan Kennelly also praised Heaney's work. Critics generally comment on the use of metaphors and skillful Heaney language and attention to detail and rural imagery. Some reviewers find the volume a bit exaggerated, John Unterecker of the New York Times Book Review stated that he found some of his poems, "sometimes heavy intellect".
Contents
- Dig
- Death of a Naturalist
- Warehouse
- Learning Progress
- Blackberry-Picking
- Churning Day
- Initial Cleanup
- Followers
- Photos of the Ancestors
- Long Term Break
- Dawn Shoot
- In Potato Excavation
- For Commander of 'Eliza'
- The Diviner
- Turkey Observed
- Beef in Betis
- Trout
- Waterfall
- Docker
- Poor Women in City Church
- Gravity
- Double Shy
- Valediction
- Lovers in Aran
- Poems
- Honeymoon
- Scaffolding
- Storm on the Island
- Sync on Aran
- St. Francis and the Birds
- In Small Townlands
- The Folk Singers
- The Play Way
- Private Helicons
Further reading
- Allen, Michael, Ed. Seamus Heaney. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1997.
- CaÃÆ' Â ± fennel, Ivan. "Working Nation (s): 'Digging' Seamus Heaney and Work Ethics in Post-Colonial and Minority Posts." EESE: Erfurt Electronic Study in English (2010).
- Corcoran, Neil. Seamus Heaney Poem: A Critical Study. London: Faber, 1998.
- Foster, John Wilson. Achievements Seamus Heaney . Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1995.
- Garratt, Robert F., Ed., Critical Essay on Seamus Heaney. New York: G.K. Hall, 1995.
- Heaney, Seamus. Newly Selected Poetry, 1966-1987. London & amp; Boston: Faber and Faber, 1990.
- Heaney, Seamus. Seamus Heaney in conversation with Karl Miller. London: Between The Lines, 2000.
- Mathias, Roland. "Death of a Naturalist", in The Art of Seamus Heaney , Ed. Tony Curtis, edn 3rd. Bridgen, Wales: Seren Books, 1994. p. 11-25.
- Morrison, Blake. Seamus Heaney. London & amp; New York: Methuen, 1982.
- Murphy, Andrew. Seamus Heaney. Plymouth: Northcote House/British Council, 1996.
See also
- Seamus Heaney Collecting Poetry
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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