comparing THE PRELUDE to DEATH OF A NATURALIST

who wrote the prelude

William Wordsworth

what kind of poet was wordsworth

founder of English romanticism

what do most englsih romantic poets use concepts of in their works

childhood and innocence

what idea was wordsworth specifically interested in

growth and matruity

what is the prelude extract taken from

taken from the autobiographical poem of wordsworth early years called the prelude

it is about growing up in the lake district where he grew up

how does wordsworth use enjambment and caesura to open the poem

“And in the frosty season, when the sun

Was set, and visible for many a mile”

-poem gracefully ebbs and flows

-poetic narrative of understated elegance and beauty

-establishes place and time

how does wordsworth contrats cold opening line

“the cottage windows through the twilight blaz’d”

-contrasts of cold and warm

-warm feelings of childhood?

-Wordsworth uses anastrophe

-establishes place and time

-blazd is at end of phrase so stands out strongly agains sentence and maybe dark evening

what words does wordsworth use to show reader he enjoyed childhood

“happy time”

“time of rapture”

-enjoyed childhood and has good memories

what vivid imagery does wordsworth use

“proud and exulting like an untir’d horse”

-reflects joy and energy childhood brings

-similie

-reflects his appreciate for natural world

how does wordsworth show defiance against the rules and wants to enjoy his childhood

“I heeded not the summons”

“clear and loud the village clock toll’d six”

-knows what time it is and knows he should go in but he chooses to stay out and play with friends

what onoematapeoic word describes how wordsworth was sakting

“We hissed along the polished ice”

-hissed refelcts the speed at which skates moved

how does Wordsworth compare his games to a hunt

“imitative of the chase”

“resounding horn”

“Pack bellowing loudly”

“hunted hare”

-resounding and bellowing suggests their loudness and could reflect their enjoyment

how does wordsworth show the buys were having the best time

“we flew”

“not a voice was idle”

-time of their lives

how does wordsworht zoom out on landscpae

“the precipises rang aloud”-shouts are so loud noise is reverberating

“every icy crag tinkled like iron”

-sense of musicality and delicacy

-boys innocent pleasure is in harmony with nature

what part is there a tonal shift in poem

“into the tumult sent an alien sound

of melancholy, not unoticed”

-from energetic engagement with the world to a sudden, reflective, even sorrowful awareness. The “alien sound” intrudes upon the exuberance, possibly reflecting the intrusion of deeper thought, memory, or emotional complexity into youthful joy.

-Wordsworth doesn't specify what exactly this sound is, which opens it to interpretation. It could be literal (a sound in the environment) or metaphorical (an internal realization or spiritual awakening). Its “melancholy” character suggests a sudden awareness of loss, change, or the passage of time

how does wordsworth end the poem in a romantic way

“the stars eastward were sparkling clear”

“in the west the orange sky of evening died away”

-could be seen as his childhood dying away compared to his adult life yet to come

-captures beauty and power of nature

who wrote death of a naturalist

Seamus Heaney

what is death of a naturalist based on

-Heaney’s childhood growing up in rural Northern Ireland

-family relationships

-the way adult identities are formed

what do the 2 stanzas focus on in death of a naturalist

-S1:child visiting flax-dam to collect frogspawn -focuses on innocence, delight and excitement and observations of frogs

-S2:sudden fear and loathing brought on by changed characteristics if frogs -interest in natural world is gone

what theme from real life is heaney trying to link death of a naturalist too

-in 1991 interview heaney said the danger found in country side in his poetry is a reflection of the troubled and divided community he grew up in

-threat of violence and military imagery in stanza 2 reflect growing awareness of political tension in Ireland which escalated at end of 1960s

what is the base meter of death of a naturalist

iambic pentameter

what does the enjambment in stanza 1 of death of a naturalist reflect

the excitement of the speaker in his youth

what kind of vocab does the speaker use in stanza 1 of death of a naturalist to represent

-childish voacb to reflect age and maturity “daddy frog” “jampotfulls” “mammy frog”

-reader sees it though eyes of child

what are the two possible interpretations of the opening line of death of a naturalist

“flax-dam festered in the heart of the townland”

-LITERAL- flax has decayed and become offensive smelling

-METAPHORICAL- “heart” suggests personified -grivences of people in community are festering -the ireland war and conflic

how does heaney create a semantic field of death and heaviness in first few lines of stanza 1 of death of a naturalist

“heavy headed”-dead weight

“rotted”-death

“weighted down”-heavy

“sweltered”-uncomfortable

what does the personification of the flax and sun suggest of the speaker

“daily it sweltered in the punishing sun”

-perhaps speaker as a child sees elements of natural world as characters

-although bleak connotations speaker does not seem to mind

what use of onomatopia and an oxymoron suggests the speaker in death i of a naturalist isn’t put off by nature

“gargled delicately” -finds it fascinating and beautiful

what animal does Heaney describe that has connotations of death

“bluebottles” -feeds on decay so gives connotations of death

what line suggests the childish fascination of things that adults might find gross in death of a natrualist

“best of all was the warm, thick slobber of frogspawn” -slobber gives connotations of dogs -speaker finds sensation oddly comforting

what line in death of naturlaist suggets this activity is a ritual

“here every spring”-looks forward to activity

how does the speaker show the volume in which he collects of frogspawn in death if a naturalist

“windowsills at home on shelves at school” -shows he collects lots and enjoys activity

what does the simplistic explanation of the frogs by heaney suggest about his interest

-simple language has not evolved which suggests a loss of interest in adult life as his language to describe process has not evolved

what does the visual break in the stanzas in death of a naturalist represent

-change in tone and mood

-this can reflect the maturity to adulthood

what language does heaney use to suggests the smell of the frogs and flax now disgusts the speaker

“rank with cow dung” -foul and offensive smell

how does Heaney describe the frogs as if they were on some military mission

“angry frogs invaded the flax-dam

how does henaey suggests the speaker does not feel safe

“I ducked through the hedges” -feels need to protect himself from frogs-sees as threat

how does heaney suggests the frogs sounded threatening

“air was thick with a bass chorus” -very low of frogs in union -like a battle cry

how does heaney suggest the frogs are poised for attack and are threatning and unpleasent

“cocked on sods”-cock gun means ready to fire-frog are ready to attack

-”gross bellied frogs” -big and ugly

-”loose necks pulsed like sails”-similie could be describing like a military fleet

how does Heaney suggest he now has a repulsion for the frog using onomatopoeia

“slap and plop were obscene threats” -finds their movement disgusting and unpleasant

how does Heaney further suggest he feels the frogs are threanign and going to attack hiim

“poised like mud grenades” -similie of danger

how does Heaney show he hates the sound of the frogs now

“blunt heads farting” -rpresent the sund of the croak -small children find it amusing but Heaney now finds it repulsive -shows he is growing up

how does Heaney descibe the evolution of the frogs to a threatning appearance

“the great slime kings were gathered for vengeance”

-matured from mammy and daddy to kings

-vengeance could be on the small children who steal their frog spawn

How does Heaney suggests in the last line of poem he has lost love for the frogs and frogspawn

“I knew that if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it”

-loss of love for frog spawn no longer wants to touch it

-has a fear the spawn will drag him under

-fascination has turned to fear and disgust

what military imagery does Heaney use in Death of a naturalist S2

“invaded” “grenades” “cocked”

how to compare these poems

-nature poems

-strong emotions

-times and change

-structure

-autobiographical