storm on the island

• who wrote SOTI?

  • Seamus Heany
  • Irish poet
  • written in 1960s
• what was going on in ireland during the late 1900s

  • the troubles
  • a time of political unrest where Northern Ireland was in a war and religeons where segregated
• how can the poem be linked to the Troubles

  • SOTI could perhaps be seen as an allegory/metaphor for the troubles - the islanders may be seen as the Irish people, whereas the storm may be representative of oppressive British rule, and the brutality of war in general
  • Heaney may have done this in order to reflect upon the violence and destructive nature of war, but also use the poem as a reminder that nature will always overcome man and no one is safe from destruction
• what is soti about

  • shows a community on an island who is at first confident, but quickly reminded that nature is always omnipotent
• why doesen't the island have any geographical context?

  • to perhaps suggest that nature can be more turbulent than man anywhere, at any time
  • Heaney shows that no one is completely safe from destruction
  • Heaney subverts the romanticization of nature
• 'Leaves and branches can raise a tragic chorus in a gale'

  • 'Raise a tragic chorus' - The verb 'Raise' as well as the personifacation of nature presents nature as being intentioanlly destructive
  • Nature is trying to provoke and tantalise man as it knows that it is more omnipotent than man
  • Heaney almost presents nature as demonic and destructive to man in order to make mankind suffer, perhaps for the conflict and war
• 'spits like a tame cat turned savage'

  • Heaney uses ZOOMORPHISM in the simile 'like a tame cat' in order to give the storm qualities of an animal
  • The juxtaposition of 'tame' and 'savage' is used to portray the unpredictable and mercurial nature of the storm, which Heaney may do to highlight the deception of nature as it lulls us in with it's apparent beaty or innocence, but in fact has the capacity for extreme violence and brutality
• what is significance of the title 'storm on the island'

  • The title is an allusion to the govorment building in northern ireland 'Stormont' which suggests that the poem has political undertones within the imagery of the poem
• 'pummels', 'exploded', 'bombarded'

  • Heaney creates a semantic field of battle to reflect millitary violence which highlights the political aspect of the poem as Heaney underscores the detrimental impact that war is having on not only the island but also NI.
  • Perhaps he uses the island as a microcosm to represent the political unrest in NI
• 'we are prepared, we build our houses squat'

  • The poem begins with the inhabitant's declaration that they are prepared and ready for the storm - 'squat' suggests that they have built their houses sufficient for withstanding the storm - this suggets that they are initially very confident
  • The inclusive pronoun 'we' underscores Heaney's intentions that this poem is about community