Storm on the Island

• Storm on the Island in a nutshell

  Storm on the Island was written by the Irish poet Seamus Heaney and it was published in 1966. It describes a desolate island landscape lived on by a group of resourceful individuals who must protect themselves from a storm. It can also be interpreted as an allegory for political tensions in Northern Ireland, commonly referred to as "The Troubles", where the islanders can be understood to represent the Irish people and the storm represents oppressive British rule, and the brutality of war and conflict in general. The main themes of this poem are therefore based on both its literal meaning in the power of nature, and in its allegorical meaning of physical and political conflict.
• Storm on the Island breakdown

  Lines 1-5

  “We are prepared: we build our houses squat,

  Sink walls in rock and roof them with good slate.

  This wizened earth has never troubled us

  With hay, so, as you see, there are no stacks

  Or stooks that can be lost. - ”

  Translation

  • The poem begins with the declaration that the inhabitants are ready for the storm
  • Their homes are short and wide, built for withstanding strong weather
  • The land does not provide them with many crops, but there is no hay that might blow away
• Heaney's intention

  • The poet starts by using the inclusive pronoun “we”, indicating that this poem is about community and togetherness
  • The caesura in the first line suggests they are prepared to stop the coming storm
  • The use of alliteration, such as “rock and roof”, reinforces how solid the structures are
  • The earth is “wizened”, meaning shrivelled with old age; it is a barren, hostile environment
  • The poet uses irony, as the island has never troubled the islanders with hay, but hay would be useful to them. It seems that the island doesn’t produce anything useful
  • The speaker mentions that the earth has never “troubled” them to foreshadow the coming dangers
  • This can also be interpreted as an allegory for the tensions in Northern Ireland
• Lines 5-11

  “ - Nor are there trees

  Which might prove company when it blows full

  Blast: you know what I mean - leaves and branches

  Can raise a tragic chorus in a gale

  So that you can listen to the thing you fear

  Forgetting that it pummels your house too.

  But there are no trees, no natural shelter.”

  Translation

  • There are no trees on the island, which would announce that the storm has arrived
  • Trees themselves might actually feel like company in this desolate place
  • They would sound like an ancient Greek chorus, which they would hear from the safety of their homes, even though the storm would be trying to destroy them
  • This would be a welcome distraction
  • But there are no natural barriers to stop or hinder the storm
• Heaney's intention

  • The poet shifts our attention to the storm that is about to attack the island
  • The speaker uses a conversational tone, as if explaining things to someone sat next to him
  • The storm is shown to be destructive and dangerous, but it is not personified
  • This could indicate that, rather than the storm representing a specific thing or entity, it is an abstract threat
  • It is violence itself that is destructive, regardless of who or what is causing it and why
• Lines 12-19

  “You might think that the sea is company,

  Exploding comfortably down on the cliffs

  But no: when it begins, the flung spray hits

  The very windows, spits like a tame cat

  Turned savage. We just sit tight while wind dives

  And strafes invisibly. Space is a salvo,

  We are bombarded by the empty air.

  Strange, it is a huge nothing we fear.”
• Translation

  • The narrator tells the reader that if we think living by the sea is dramatic and comforting, then we are wrong
  • When the waves hit the cliffs, the sea spray attacks the windows like a wild cat spitting at them
  • The inhabitants huddle together while the force of the wind blows violently and invisibly around the island
  • The space the storm inhabits is like a military attack
  • The narrator finishes by commenting that it is strange that we fear something that we cannot see
• Heaney's intention

  • The poet suggests that the storm has the power to take things that seem comfortable and familiar and turn them into a threat, such as a sea
  • The wind is described as an attacking aeroplane, as it “dives and strafes”
  • The poet begins to use more personification to suggest a more malicious nature to this natural force as if the attack is personal
  • The space that the islanders inhabit becomes a "salvo”, meaning a sudden discharge of gunfire
  • This means that the people of the island are attacked by the very air around them
  • We only know of a storm when it comes up against solid things; only when it comes up against material objects do we know it is there
  • The last line seems to be reflecting on the nature of a storm, commenting that it is strange that the islanders’ fear is of empty space, which is essentially the same as being afraid of nothing
• Form

  The poem takes the form of one long, unbroken stanza made up of 19 lines. It is also written in blank verse, mostly in iambic pentameter, to reflect the conversational tone of the speaker, which contrasts with the dramatic events unfolding on the island. This links to one of the main themes of the poem: the power of nature and the lack of control humans have over it. However, the poem can also be seen as an allegory of the political conflict and unrest in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s onwards

  
• Form: Storm on the Island

  
• Storm on the Island: Structure. Heaney uses structure and punctuation in order to emphasise the power of nature

  
• Storm on the Island: Structure.

  
• Storm on the Island: Language

  Heaney’s use of language also reflects the key themes of the power of nature, and conflict, violence and war

  
• Storm on the Island: Language

  
• Storm on the Island: Language

  
• Context:

  • The Power of Nature
  • Conflict
• The Power of Nature

  • Heaney was born and raised in Northern Ireland
  • He knew both the natural landscape and the political one
  • He wrote mostly about the landscape and rural life of Ireland
  • The island in this poem is non-specific
  • The reader does not learn anything about the era the poem is set or the geographical location
  • This gives the poem a mythical and universal quality - the islanders’ fear is more relatable because it isn’t tied to anything specific
  • The storm could be happening at any time and in any place
  • The poem can therefore be read literally as an account of humankind’s fear of nature, and the power that nature holds to destroy
  • It acts as a reminder that humanity has to be prepared to survive nature
  • Fear appears to be the primary force governing the lives of the island’s people
  • The fear of storms dictates their lives, influencing how they build their homes and their attitudes
• Conflict

  • 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 between those who would prefer it to be unified with the rest of Ireland, and those who are loyal to the UK
  • 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
  • Heaney’s poetry often used folklore and metaphor to describe the conflict
  • But he is also seen as a unifying force, by emphasising the importance of community in weathering the storms
  • The poet refers to “we”, referencing both a person pitted against the elements and a person pitted against political strife
  • The single stanza form of the poem reflects these fundamental principles of unity and equality
• • 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
• Given that Storm on the Island explores the ideas of the power of nature and conflict, the following comparisons are the most appropriate:

  • Storm on the Island and Ozymandias
  • Storm on the Island and The Prelude
• Storm on the Island and Ozymandias

  Comparison in a nutshell:

  Both Heaney’s Storm on the Island and Shelley’s Ozymandias explore the ultimate power nature has over humanity. It cannot be tamed and will outlast humanity

  Similarities:

  
• Storm on the Island and Ozymandias

  
• Storm on the Island and Ozymandias. Differences:

  
• Storm on the Island and Ozymandias. Differences:

  
• Storm on the Island and The Prelude

  Comparison in a nutshell:

  Both Heaney’s Storm on the Island and the extract from The Prelude by Wordsworth explore the power of nature and the conflict between humanity and the natural world we inhabit

  Similarities:

  
• Storm on the Island and The Prelude

  
• Storm on the Island and The Prelude. Differences: