Death of a Naturalist: Plot

Summary and Structure

“Death of a Naturalist” is not a narrative poem; it doesn’t tell a story with a specific plot. Rather, it presents a reflection of childhood, nature, and the loss of innocence.
The poem is organised into two uneven stanzas: the first one being twenty-two lines long and the second being twelve lines long. The unequal stanza structure may symbolically represent the irregularity and unpredictability of nature.

Heaney starts his poem with a vivid description of a flax-dam or pond, the area is filled with frogspawn.
He highlights the fascination with the frogspawn by using meticulous and explicit details, such as the colour and texture. This reflects the curiosity and wonder of a child’s perspective.
These moments by the pond are made to appear like a precious ritual: he bottled the frogspawn and watched it jelly. There’s a sense of fascination and honour in these actions - almost scientific, which aligns with the title, “Death of a Naturalist.”
The transition to the end of spring and the schoolroom windows are also highlighted in this stanza.

The second stanza signifies a turning point. Unlike the first, it describes an uncomfortable, perhaps even traumatising experience.
The speaker returns to the flax-dam, only to find it ‘populated’ with a great number of frogs. The use of words such as ‘obscene threats,’ ‘slime,’ ‘gross,’ ‘angry,’ and ‘vengeance’ underlines an incredibly negative, disturbing, and repulsive image of the frogs.
Heaney masterfully conveys the child’s horror and fear. A once beloved place of fascination turns into a space of terror and revulsion. It essentially symbolises a loss of innocence - the “death” of a naturalist - as the speaker sheds the naive and unspoilt outlook of childhood.
The poem concludes with the speaker refraining from returning to the dam, presumably out of fear and disgust. This marks a sad end to an era of childhood innocence and curiosity.

The poem recurrently circles around themes of childhood, innocence, growing up and disillusionment.
The contrasting depictions of nature play a vital role in portraying the transformation from an innocent child to a more aware and experienced adolescent.
Heaney’s connection with rural life and nature is a consistent thread throughout his work, and this poem is no exception. However, in this poem, he explores the more fearful, uncomfortable aspects of nature, demonstrating that it’s not always as charming and benevolent as presented in some other works.