storm on the island

• We are prepared (line 1)


  gives a feeling of safety and security, suggests there was a threat
• squat(line 1)

  
  

  rock,roof,slate.(line 2)


  nouns shows stability emphasis by end stop line showing this feeling of security disappears with the enjambment in the rest of the poem
• the whizenend earth has never troubled us(line 3)


  noun phrase-optimistic outlook nothing grows barren
• you can see(line 4)

  you know what I mean (line 7)


  conversational tone making you reflect on your own experience of storms. Direct address that involves the reader
• blast(line 7)


  onomatopoeia emphasises fear of the storm, ferocious hear the sound plosive sound greater impact because it is at the start of a line. Demonstrates the strength if nature uses assonance and sibilance sounds to reflect the noise of the wind and the waves.
• exploding comfortably (line 13)


  the oxymoron adverb comfort normalises island of the violent sea the behaviour is natural juxtaposes fear and safety
• it is huge nothing that we fear (line 16)


  oxymoron and personification invisible threat there is nothing solid there. This contrasts with the solid rock mentioned in teh second line of the poem
• strafes invisivly. Space is a salvo (line 17)


  sibilance sounds imitate hissing and spitting if the sea
• company(line 12)

  emphasise the lonliness of the setting
• no trees,no natural shelter (line 11)


  caesura slows the pace of the line emphasising 'no
• plummels(line 10)

  verb violent description
• tragic chorus (line 8)


  In a Greek tragedy, a 'chorus' comments on and explains events. Having no trees to act as a chorus suggests islanders are left on their own to interpret the storm
• strafes(line 17) bombarded line(18)


  language to describe war. The wind is compared to a fighter plane attacking the island. Violent imagery emphasise danger and effects of the storm
• Form

  the poem is written in blank verse, mirrors the pattern of everyday speech and makes the poem sound like a conversation. The first person plural 'we' shows its a collective communal experience. Its! stanza- its compact and sturdy like the house
• Structure

  Shift from security(lines1-2) to fear (line 6 &18) 'but no' seems to be a turning point with the slow pace monosyllabic phrase and caesura reflecting the last moments of calm before the storm
• Context

  first 8 letter = Stormount-name given to Northern Island parliament building. The 'storm' could be about violent disturbances that island has experienced ie: Catholics and Protestants or irosh rep wanting independence