Essays /
Compare and contrast of two poems: 'Death of a naturalist' / 'Out Out' [10]
poetry - Compare and contrast"Death of a Naturalist" by Seamus Heaney and "Out, Out" by Robert Frost share many similarities in both the subject and the way they are written.
"Death of a Naturalist" is a poem that vividly describes a childhood experience in which a young boy enjoyed collecting tadpoles in "Jampots" for his pleasure. As time passes his love for raw nature turns to fear and disgust, when one day he notes a change in his attitude to what he now sees and hears. "The tadpoles have turned into ugly frogs that he found repulsive".
"Out, Out" describes the fragility of life with a theme of child labour, It's a poem about a young boy doing a man's job "Though a Child at Heart", and that would have been common at the time this poem was written (1916), being just a child he gets distracted only for a moment and has a tragic accident that claims his life.
Both poems have a similar style of writing with no rhyme. They are both written in blank verse and both use a capital letter to start each line.
"Out Out" is written in a continuous stanza of thirty four lines that continually build up to the tragedy at the end. The build up is evident with "frosts" choice of words and he uses them to create suspense, "The Saw Snarled and Rattled" which is interpreted as power and aggression unlike "Death of a Naturalist" that is written in two stanza's and the break makes the change in the boys life, also there are examples of enjambment, a run of lines with no pause or punctuation.
Alliteration is used in both poems to set the scene in the mind of the reader, "Death of a Naturalist" "Sweltered in the Punishing Sun", likewise in "Out Out" alliteration is used on line three "Sweet Scented Stuff" which is also a triple.
Imagery is used in both poems to set the scene in the mind of the reader, in "Death of a Naturalist", Heaney uses imagery in his choice of words, "Punishing Sun" dragon-flies and spotted butterflies, he describes the heart of the towland and "Bubbles Gargle Delicately" to emphasise an image of summer.
"Out Out" also uses imagery to set the scene in the readers mind, Frost, talks of a five mountain range, one behind the other and the breeze that carries the smell of "Sweet Scented Stuff" and of a sunset which could also be interpreted as the end of the boys life.
Onomatopoeia is also evident in both poems, "Death of a Naturalist" uses it in the first stanza and creates a picturesque image of the boys surroundings, however it is used in a negative way in the second stanza to portray the boys fear of the frogs that he loved so much "Obscene Threats" "Some Sat" and "Gross Bellied".
In "Out Out" onomatopoeia is used to describe the saw that took the boys life, this is seen in the opening of the poem "The Buzz Saw Snarled and Rattled" which gives the impression of impending danger and threat.
In conclusion, "Death of a Naturalist" is written in two stanzas, the first stanza is wrote in infinite phrases, "Jampotfuls" and "Frogspawn" and his obliviousness to the understanding of nature. The second stanza sees, Heaney talking about the things he did as a child and now looks back in disgust at what he enjoyed. It's a poem about losing the innocence that come with childhood and entering into a world of complications and negativity that comes with adulthood when faced with change.
In conclusion "Out, Out" is written in one long continuous stanza, the poem is narrative and tells the story of a stolen childhood lost through hardship. The boy is doing a "man's" job, although he's a child at heart, this is evident as his concentration is lost when his sister calls "Supper" and while he retreats back into his inner child the accident takes place, his retreat back to his inner child is also evident when he begs to keep his hand. This is the realisation that things can and do change in an instant. Maybe the last "supper" was an early twist of the ending.