A Comparison of Poetry on the Subject of Nature

A Comparison of Poetry on the Subject of Nature

Seamus Heaney was the winner of the noble price for literature in

1995; he is a prominent living past. Born Northern Ireland in 1939 his

work stands against the background of the 'Troubles' In Death of a

naturalist he confronts a frog both of these experiences changed him.

Many of Heaney's early poems dealt with his experiences of childhood,

he considers a childhood fear confronted in both of the poems

mentioned above. A frequent theme is now these experiences affect us;

how apparently trivial moments can change the way we look at the

world. In An advancement of learning he confronts a rat, brought up in

Ireland he is influenced by nature and civil war.

Ted Hughes was born in 1930 in West Yorkshire. His early poetry was

famous for describing the power and mystery of animals, the beautiful

but harsh and deep world of nature. In Roe-deer Hughes encounters the

natural world but not a violent poem.

The first poem Death of a Naturalist is a very interesting poem, told

by Seamus Heaney. This poem is told in first person, he is looking

back at his childhood. In contrast with Ted Hughes. This poem is about

a boy and his interest for nature, which each spring he used to go

down to the dam and fill "jampotsful of the jellied tadpoles specks"

he would bring home and put them on his windowsill. We can tell how

much he cared and loved the small frogs and tadpoles. This one

incident changed all this.

The second poem is An Advancement of Learning, also by Seamus Heaney.

Similarly to Death of a Naturalist he has written this in first

person. This poem is also about his experiences from childho...

... middle of paper ...

... three poems are written in first

person,voice of author an personal experience. This shows that they

are all telling about there own experiences. But in Hughes poem he is

writing about an experience which took place when he was old, we know

this because he was driving. However, Heaney is much younger in both

poems, this can be proven by, "Miss Walls would tell us how the daddy

frog was called the bullfrog and how he croaked and how the mammy frog

laid hundreds of little eggs", also another voice that of teacher add

to realism .Heaney is being talken to by a primary school teacher and

therefore it shows he is young.

In An Advancement of Learing there is no clear evidence that he is

young but at the beginning Heaney does not cross the bridge and takes

the easy route, and this is an action of an adventures 10 year old.