Storm on the island

• Heaney seems to suggest that the natural world is more powerful than humans; the people on the island are extremely isolated and cans do little to protect themselves for the ferocity of the weather.
• Fear and the power of nature also seem to come from the unpredictability and uncertainty of the wind and the weather. No one knows what the wind will do and what each storm will bring
• On another level the poem may be viewed as having a more deeper or symbolic meaning. The first eight letters of the poem’s title spell ‘stormont’. This is the name given to Northern Ireland’s parliament building. The hints that the ‘storm’ could be about some of the violent political disturbances that Ireland has experienced.
• The use of first person ‘we’ could show how this is a collective, communal experience. There is a volta at line 14 which changes from a sense of security through the use of factual language to fear through a shift to vivid violent imagery
• Note the title: the word ‘island’ suggests isolation, entrapment - nowhere to hide. “Storm” indicates disorder, chaos, tension.
• “No stacks or stools” = nothing to be blown away by ferocious winds of the storm. “no trees”= no danger of branches being blown off. “No trees, no natural shelter” = the islanders must sit the storm out in their houses; nowhere to run: no trees to take out some force of the wind. Environment is a threat to him.
• Oxymoron - “Exploding uncomfortably” - conveys power of storm, “Exploding” conveys a violent movement, like a bomb detonating whereas “comfortable“ denotes a contented, easy action. The indication is that it is no effort at all for the sea to erupt and create further damage.
• War imagery - conflict between man and nature. The onslaught of the storm is used as a metaphor for a military attack. Humans can only sit tight while “wind dives and strafes invisibly”. This is like a fighter aircraft - the word ‘strafe’ indicating bombard and harass with gunfire.
• Simile - the sea can be placid but during the storm it “spits like a tame cat / turned savage”. This can be linked to his home on the island - normally comfortable (‘tame’) but has now turned against him - became the enemy.
• “a huge nothing that we fear” - like an invisible enemy - cannot see the wind attacking against them. The word ‘fear’ highlights how worried and anxious they are.
• ’Blast’ verb and plosive create a forceful sound. “spits like a tame cat / turned savage” - use of simile and enjambment represents then unpredictability of the weather and how familiar objects become strange / unfamiliar.
• The cottage represents safety from the weather. The speaker describes how their houses are ‘squat’ and made of ‘rock’. This shows the power of man to create protection from the weather. Despite this the speaker admits that they are still afraid (“It is a huge nothing that we fear“)
• Feelings and attitudes

  Safety and fear

  Isolation and helplessness
• THEMES

  The power of nature

  Humanity versus nature

  Fear and isolation
• COMPARE

  ’Exposure’ - power of nature / weather

  ’Prelude‘ - power of nature

  ’Bayonet charge‘ - humans under attack; creation of sound
• KEY QUOTES

  “strafes” “bombarded” “hits” “spits”

  “spits like a tame cat / turned savage”

  ”Exploding comfortably”

  “huge nothing that we fear”