Death of a Naturalist • The final line betrays the extent of Heaney’s childish fear.

He believed
that if he ‘dipped [his] hand the spawn would clutch it’.

Form and Structure

• The poem is written as two sections of blank verse (unrhymed iambic

pentameter).

Comparative Ideas

• This poem is about childhood fear and so could usefully be compared to

The Barn.

• It is about strength of feeling and memory so could be compared with a

variety of the other poems in the collection.

• It is about a moment of decision / realisation and so could be compared

to Mid-Term Break, Once Upon a Time, The Road not taken, I Shall
Paint my Nails Red.