Storm On The Island Flashcards
Who wrote Storm On The Island?
Seamus Heaney
FORM
One unbroken stanza of 19 lines - overwhelming and relentless force of nature (the storm).
Iambic Pentameter: the regularity of the meter can also make the poem feel tense, as though the speaker cannot fully relax knowing what is coming.
This could also be reinforcing Heaney’s message about the importance of unity - troubles in Northern Ireland.
The message appears to be that, whether these forces are natural or political, people have to work together as a collective otherwise they will not survive
The poem works as an allegory, a type of extended metaphor, for The Troubles in Northern Ireland
STRUCTURE
The poet uses enjambment, such as in the line “-We just sit tight while wind dives/and strafes invisibly.-”
This could imply the constant barrage barrage of the storm.
The breathlessness from the enjambment could also represent the panicked feeling of the islanders.
There is also caesura in the poem, such as in the line “But no: when it begins,…”
This could indicate how the speaker’s conversational tone is interrupted by the power of the storm.
The poem has a cyclical structure, starting with “houses squat/good slate” and ending with “the empty air/huge nothing that we fear”.This connects the preparation for the storm at the start of the poem to the fear of the storm’s power at the end.
It also shows the resilience of the islanders, as storms come over and over, and the islands have to learn to live with them. The cycle then is one of preparation, storm and recovery, which is never-ending, like nature
CONTEXT
Heaney was born and raised in Northern Ireland.
He knew both the natural landscape and the political one.
Even though it is not explicit, the political situation of Northern Ireland is a key feature of Heaney’s poetry
Northern Ireland was, and to a certain extent still is, a country divided. The Troubles was a conflict over the identity and status of Northern Ireland
Storm on the Island was published in 1966, in the early years of The Troubles.
The poet refers to “we”, referencing both a person pitted against the elements and a person pitted against political strife.
“We are prepared: we build our houses squat”
Declaritive statement: arrogance of mankind against nature. We = unity and collectiveness - people pitted against nature but also political strife. The form of the poem also enhances the importance of unity in Heaney’s message.
“The wizened Earth”
Presenting the Earth as wise and knowing
“When it blows full Blast:”
Onomatopoeia - war imagery - the caesura following blast is used to break up the sentence and cause unsteadiness the way in which gun-fires or bombs can - accentuates the impact.
“raise a tragic chorus in gale”
Metaphor - how the violence of nature can also be beautiful, like the sound of a choir - their fears are calling to them, like voices in gale.
Tragic - the tragedy of the conflict in Northern Ireland and the deaths.
“Listen to the thing you fear, forgetting that it pummels your house too”
“thing” - unbeknownst to what it really is.
Pummels - aggressive verb.
