Storm On The Island Flashcards
Who wrote storm on the island?
Sheamus Heany
What happens in the poem?
The people of Ireland preparing for a storm, and a description of the storm
What’s a key idea from this poem?
- Power of nature
- Political conflict in northern ierland (an extended metaphor for it)
What does the quote “we are prepared” show?
- they are used to the bombing
- they are used to the waves always crashing against their homes
- the mystery of we who is we
What does the quote “exploding comfortably” show?
- they are used to the conflict
- oxymoron they have to out wait the conflict
What does the quote “spits like a tame cat” show?
- personification and simile the waves are vicious, fed up of the arguments, taking it land back, nature’s power
What form is the poem?
A dramatic monologue, but it’s not standard, danger of the storm is being revealed
What does the enjabment in lines 6 to 10 show?
Constant berage in ierland
What does the use of half rhyme “squat…slate” at the start and “air..fear” show?
- chaos
- a full rhyme would have been too obvious
- creates a cyclical structure showing the storm/ conflict will always carry on.
What does the iambic pentameter jucstapose against?
- it provides a structure when during the storm/conflict there is none
- it’s not standard Heany put his own Irish twist onto it
- conflict of English against Irish
What’s some context for the conflict in Ireland?
- conflict against England and Ireland Protestant and catholic conflict in modern day
- poem is an extended metaphor for this conflict
What does “we are bombarded by the empty air” show
- nature is the enemy not war itself, the word bomb in bombarded is a human creation, nature is just as or if not stronger than man as it doesn’t need a creation to fight back
- Oxymoronic cause so much trouble even tho it’s invisible
- “by” it is very much nature against man
What are three key quotes from this poem
“Spits like a tame cat”
“Exploding comfortably”
“Bombarded by the empty air”
