Welcome to “Death of a Naturalist Workbook Answer : ISC Rhapsody (Evergreen),” where we explore the evocative lines of Seamus Heaney’s “Death of a Naturalist” through the ISC English Literature Rhapsody by Evergreen Publications. In this post, we provide comprehensive answers to multiple-choice and contextual questions, deepening your understanding of Heaney’s poignant depiction of childhood and the natural world. We meticulously unravel the themes of innocence, transformation, and the harsh realities of nature. Each question serves as a gateway to dissecting the poem, urging readers to analyze subtle nuances and extract deeper meanings. Contextual inquiries broaden our canvas for exploration, encouraging critical engagement with the socio-cultural backdrop and universal themes inherent in Heaney’s work. Through this detailed examination, readers sharpen their analytical skills and develop a profound appreciation for the literary craftsmanship of Seamus Heaney. Whether you are a student navigating ISC English Literature or an enthusiast of contemporary poetry, “ISC Rhapsody: Death of a Naturalist Workbook Solutions” offers valuable insights. Join us on this literary journey as we illuminate the path to understanding, one workbook solution at a time.
Table of Contents
Poem In Details :
The poem is divided into two stanzas. The first stanza gives a detailed description of the flax-dam and activities going on there which attract the attention of the poet as a child. In the ‘flax-dam’, all the year round flax would continue to rot or decay, pressed under huge pieces of sods in the extreme heat of the burning sun. The flax- dam, a place where flax is placed to soften its fibres, was located in the middle of the farm (‘townland’). Bubbles in the dam produced sounds like those produced in gargling. Bluebottles – blue flies – seemed to create a thin network of sounds around the smells emanating from the dam. There one would spot dragonflies and spotted butterflies also. Of all these things the best was the thick slobber (saliva) of frogspawn (a jelly-like substance carring the eggs of a frog). The frogspawn grew like thick water in the shade of the banks. Every spring, the poet (as a child) would fill jars with this jelly to place it on window sills at home or on shelves at school, waiting curiosly to see how the fattening dots (eggs) in the jelly would come to life as agile, swimming tadpoles.
At this point the speaker seems to recall a lesson by his teacher, Miss Walls. She would tell her students how the male frog was called a bullfrog and how he croaked, and a female frog would lay hundreds of little eggs, called frogspawn. Frogs would be yellow in colour in the sun and brown in the rain.
The whole description in the first stanza evokes the innocent mindset of the child. The language used here indicates that the speaker, now adult, is recalling his childhood memories.
The second stanza, shorter than the one, describes a later stage in the speaker’s childhood and a change in his mindest. It also begins with clear indication of a time gap. The tadpoles had grown into fully develop frogs. One day when there was heavy smell of cowdung in the fields the speaker saw that angry frogs had invaded the flax dam. He dodged them through small bushes but he continued to hear the cacaphony of their croaking. The whole atmosphere was filled with their low-toned harsh chorus. Frogs with ugly bellies sat on sods right down the dam. Their loose necks throbbed like sails. Some of them were hopping. The speaker found their slapping and plopping threatening. Some of them sat in dangerous positions, threatening like grenades ready to fall on you. The sound of their heads appeared to be like ‘farting’.
The whole scene frightened the speaker. He felt revulsion, turned and ran away. The frogs (‘great slime kings’) appeared as if ready to take revenge. The speaker adds that he knew that if he now dipped his hand the frogspawn (which he used to steal earlier) would catch hold of it, and would not let him go.
Thus, there is a clear shift in the mindset of the speaker. Earlier, his innocent actions had no reaction. But now on maturity, his own attitude towards the frogspawn has changed and he imagines that even the attitude of the frogspawn has changed towards him. Both have lost trust of each other. The aggressiveness of the frogs force him to think that his actions, though innocent, might have caused some harm.
Stanza Wise Explanation :
Stanza 1
Lines 1-10 (All year …. the shade of the banks)
The poem opens with the description of the ‘flax-dam’ – a place where the sheaves of flax plant were placed to rot its stems to soften its fibres. Located in the middle of the farm, it was often visited by the speaker (the poet as a child). The description of the rotting flax, its heavy smell, the sweltering heat of the sun, the gargling sound of bubbles, the thick sound of blue flies (bluebottles) which becomes a part of the smell, dragonflies and spotted butterflies, is concise, vivid and sensuous. The poet has woven visual and auditory images through the skilful use of metaphors and oxymorons. Flax-dam is personified as it ‘sweltered in the punishing sun’. The sun, too, has been personified in the image of an oppressive being.
The speaker was, however, fascinated most by the frogspawn a kind of jelly containing frog eggs that looked like thick saliva (slobber) grown like thick water in the shade of the banks.
Lines 10-15 (Here every spring…. swimming tadpoles)
The speaker then shifts to the specific. He recalls how every spring he would fill jars with frogspawn from the flax-dam and then place them on the window sills of his home and on shelves at school. The purpose was to watch how the fattening dots (eggs) burst into life as agile tadpoles that can swim. This is an innocent act, and a sort of experiment children love to make in spare time. However, later, the speaker realizes his act was negative a kind of stealing.
Lines 15-20 (Miss Walls…. In rain)
Here the speaker tells how his teacher Miss Walls taught them about the lifecycle of a frog. He remembers vividly what he was taught the ‘daddy’ frog called a bullfrog croaked, and then the ‘mammy’ frog laid hundreds of little eggs, what was frogspawn. The teacher told the process as matter-of-factly as she could. The speaker is proud of his knowledge, and he shares his knowledge with us frogs look yellow in the sun. and brown in the rain. The word ‘rain’ perhaps indicates a negative change.
Stanza 2
The second stanza opens with “Then’ which suggests a change in perspective. One hot day, when there was heavy smell of cow dung in the fields, the angry frogs had invaded the flax-dam. The poet dodged them through little bushes. The aggressive frogs, their coarse croaking, their movements and actions were all threatening. They appear determined to take revenge for the earlier theft of their frogspawn by the speaker. They appear to be poised like mud ‘grenades’. The speaker felt sick. He turned and ran away in fear. He feared that if he dipped his hand into the water, the frogspawn would ‘clutch’ it in retaliation.
In this part, thus, frogs are viewed as a menace, and they cause the death of a naturalist in the speaker. His love for experimentation with natural objects, turns into disenchantment and disgust. The language to depict frogs is carefully chosen. Frogs are not playful allies. They are made to look hideous and threatening: their position on sods (‘cocked on sod’s) is crude; their ‘slap and plop’ are likened to ‘obscene threats to him (for his early theft of frogspawn); the sound of their heads is compared to ‘farting’, a rude comparison in itself.
Workbook MCQs :
(i) Who is the speaker in the poem?
(a) a farmer
(b) a boy
(c) the poet
(d) a mature person
Answer :- (c) the poet
(iI) What is flax-dam?
(a) a dam
(b) an obstruction
(c) a kind of pool
(d) flax-field
Answer :- (c) a kind of pool
(iII) Why is flax placed in the flax-dam?
(a) to protect it
(b) to strengthen it
(c) to make it rot
(d) to make it grow
Answer :- (c) to make it rot
(iV) Where does the boy find the frogspawn?
(a) near the flax-dam
(b) outside the flax-dam
(c) on a sod
(d) within the flax-dam
Answer :- (d) within the flax-dam
(v) In what mood does the boy approach the flax-dam in Stanza 1?
(a) sad
(b) fascinated
(c) apathetic
(d) negative
Answer :- (b) fascinated
(vI) What accounts for the mood swing in the boy’s mind?
(a) the coarse croaking of frogs
(b) the threatening postures of ugly fully-grown frogs
(c) the absence of frogspawn
(d) the smell of frogspawn
Answer :- [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(vII) When does the boy seem to take on the role of a keen naturalist?
(a) when he runs away from the flax-dam
(b) when he thinks of visiting the flax-dam
(c) when he recalls the flax-dam
(d) when he recalls the lifecycle of a frog as told by his teacher.
Answer :- [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(vIII) Which figure of speech is used in the line:
To a coarsa croaking that I had not heard’
(a) oxymoron
(b) irony
(c) alliteration
(d) pun
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(iX) Which of these statements is NOT true?
(a) Some frogs rushed forward as if to attack the boy
(b) Some frogs were poised like mud grenades
(c) The slap and plop of frogs was frightening
(d) The whole scene of grown frogs filled the boy’s mind with disgust.
Answer :- [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(x) I sickened, turned and ran’. The statement is indicative of:
(a) the death of a naturalist in the boy
(b) the ugly side of nature
(c) the fearful nature of the scene
(d) none of the above
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Logic Based Questions :
(i) Flax is placed in the flax dam because it is made to rot in order to soften its fibers.
(iI) Flax in the flax dam rotted because of the intense heat of the sun.
(iII) The speaker would fill jars of frogspawn and carry home and to school because he wanted to see how eggs of frogs grew into moving tadpoles.
(iV) The flax used to be placed in the flax-dam in summer because linen was made from its fibres.
(v) The weather can be told by looking at the frogs because frogs change their colour with the change in weather.
(vI) Stanza 2 in the poem significantly begins with ‘then’ because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(vII) The boy dodged the frogs because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(vIII) The boy ran away from the scene as depicted in Stanza 2 because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(iX) The boy seems to have lost his innocence and fascination for nature because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(x) The frogs seem to the boy to threaten him for [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
Short Answer Questions :
(i) Describe the activities at the flax-dam in the first part of the poem.
Answer :- The flax-dam is a place where flax is placed to rot in the heat of the sun. It is a kin of pool in a field. Itis a place which is not calm and quiet. When the speaker visited it, it was buzzing with the sounds of blue flies. Bubbles in the pool produced gargling sounds. One could spot dragonflies and spotted butterflies there, too. The speaker was more interested in the frogspawn which grew in the shade of the banks, shaped like a net. The thick slobber of frogspawn was a jelly-like substance carrying the eggs of a frog.
(iI) What does Miss Wall’s lesson tell the speaker? How does he experiment with what he has learnt ?
Answer :- Miss Wall, a teacher, has taught her class about the life-cycle of the frog. The speaker learns that the male frog is called a bull frog. He croaks and then the female frog lays hundreds of little eggs, from which grow tadpoles which, then, turn into fully developed frogs. The speaker wants to see the growth of eggs into swimming tadpoles. So he visits a flax-dam from where he collects frogspawn (eggs of a frog) in jars and places them in windows and shelves to see the growth of eggs.
(iII) What shocking scene is described in the second part of the poem ?
Answer :- [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(iV) Compare and contrast the feelings of the speaker in two different situations depicted in the poem.
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(v) Comment on the use of language in the poem.
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Long Answer Questions :
(i) Bring out the significance of the title of the poem with close reference to the text.
Answer :- The title of the poem is simple and eye-catching. A naturalist is one who studies plants, animals and other objects in nature. He is inspired by something in nature. The speaker in the poem is a school-going boy. A class lesson on the life-cycle of frogs prompts him to make an experiment. He visits a flax-dam and gathers frogspawn (a jelly like substance carrying the eggs of a frog). He wants to observe how eggs grow into swimming tadpoles, and then into frogs.
After some time, he visits the flax-dam again. He is surprised, rather shocked, to find that tadpoles have grown into fully-developed frogs. Frogs, with their ugly bellies and loose necks and continuous coarse croaking, look both ugly and disgusting. They seem to be in an angry and aggressive mood. The boy-speaker finds the whole scene disgusting. He also feels guitly for ‘stealing’ the frogspawn. He runs away from the place, feeling sick. The marked change in his attitude shows his loss of interest in frogs. It suggests the death of a naturalist in him, thus justifying the aptness of the title of the poem.
(iI) What do you mean by ‘flax-dam’? What attracted the speaker about it ?
Answer :- A flax-dam used to be a pond like place where flax was placed to expose its stems to the sun to rot so that its fibres got soft for making linen. This was the practice in Ireland in the 19th century. It is no longer in vogue.
The speaker in the poem, a school boy, gets interested in the life-cycle of frogs after his class lecture on frogs. He visits a flax-dam. The whole place attracts him greatly. He finds the sheaves of flax placed under the weight of sods, rotting in the sun. There is a pungent smell all over the place. Water in the pond seems to be gargling. Dragonflies and spotted butterflies are hovering around the place. Blue flies are buzzing. The speaker finds of all the things the ‘slobber” of frogspawn most attractive. The frogspawn, looking like a net is a jelly-like substances carrying the eggs of a frog. The boy fills jars of frogspawn and carries them to his home and school. He wants to observe how eggs grow into swimming tadpoles and then into frogs.
(iII) What caused the ‘death’ of a naturalist in the speaker ?
Answer :- [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(iV) “I knew/That if I dipped my hand the spawn would cluch it.” Elaborate it with close reference to the text.
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