storm on the island

• Poems to compare with:

  Exposure- not hopeful, military imagery and how nature overpowers humans, both show nature as a powerful aggression, attack of nature is inescapable.

  London- politics, perspective of someone stuck in the middle of conflict

  Prelude- danger of nature, shows nature as powerful

  Ozymandias- shows the power of nature is greater than the power of humans
• Themes of conflict between man and nature, conflict and fear, safety and strength
• Context: Heaney was Catholic but lived in Northern Ireland, this poem is about the troubles in Ireland (republic vs northern)
• 'we are prepared' shows the ability to withstand a storm. The calm tone undermines the power of nature, the confident declarative show they believe they have the ability to overcome nature
• 'Storm on the Island' the title highlights the Stormont, the parliament in Ireland, foreshadowing the political issues
• 'good slate' uses strong imagery, highlights the power of nature
• 'the wisened earth had never troubled us With hay' the enjambment shows a sense of irony, deception. They are thinking that earth helped them, showing they wisdom and respect of nature. Earth never gave them anything
• 'as you see' uses direct address and a conversational tone, which contrasts with the tone used until then. It also shows a connect to the reality of the islander's lives to the readers
• 'there are no stacks or stools that can be lost' there is not anything to lose as everything is already damaged. Highlights nature as a powerful figure and that there is no comfort in nature
• 'you know what i mean' highlights a conversational tone
• The use of blank verse shows a lack of controlled structure, imitating the unpredictability of nature
• 'tragic chorus' musical element given to the storm, shows that the storm has an element of beauty. It is being romanticised. It also shows a continuous theme of the community versus the isolation in the situation of a natural disaster
• 'no natural shelter' highlights an abandonment by nature
• 'sea is company' shows the only thing left, stability as everything else is destroyed. It still does not provide comfort, shows more isolation
• 'Exploding comfortably down on the cliffs' the juxtaposition shows the unpredictability of nature
• 'the very windows, spits like a tame cat Turned savage' the enjambment shows a deception of ordinary things turning bad. It also shows that they mistakenly believed they can tame nature, showing the power of nature, aggressive enough to have so much force
• 'Spaces is a salvo' the militaristic imagery shows that there is nothing there, everything is empty
• 'it is huge nothing that we fear' shows the different sides f nature and that through everything they still do not see nature as a big threat
• There is no consistent rhyme scheme, which reflects how order cannot be enforced upon nature, it is more powerful that humanity. Humans have no way to control it
• The pone begins being optimistically but the tone shifts to one of fear
• 'It is huge nothing that we fear' - This quote suggests that the speaker doesn't understand the full extent of the danger posed by the storm. The use of 'huge nothing' implies that the storm isn't something tangible or real, rather an abstract concept that humans are unable to fully comprehend.