- I think that the poem is about the landscape and nature around the area where Seamus Heaney grew up, and also of his Primary School, learning about frogs. The opening lines evoke nature beautifully. This is because Heaney uses images such as: "festered", "green", "rotted", "sods", "sweltered" and "punishing". He also creates a vivid impression of learning about the tadpoles at school by uisng pharses like "jellied specks", "fattening" and "nimble-swimming". This gives the reader the impression of the tadpoles growing steadily throughout the year and eventually bursting gracefully into life. The poem explores ideas linked to nature and growing up. This is because; the lessons he learnt in Primary School were all about animals and nature and especially in this poem frogs are mentioned.
In the second stanza the tone changes. The language is different. The poet uses words and phrases related to violence, for example "rank", "invaded" and "grenades". These are here because they show how the frogs are attacking and killing the crops, which Heaney finds very scary and intimidating. It creates a sense of fear from the reader and they get anxious about Heaneys safety.
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