storm on the island

• 'we are prepared'

  • ('we')collective pronoun, we are all standing together
  • irony both sides are divided like the country
  • England not a typical "the troubles" to impact them, Birmingham bombings
  • initial confidence
  • they are ready, made actions to ensure their safety
• 'spits like a tame cat turned savage'

  • unexpected violence
  • oxymoron showing how quickly they can change
  • simile
  • britain thinks it has substgated ireland but you cant reflecting how animals turn on their owners when mistreated
• 'exploding comfortably'

  • oxymoron
  • could reflect how people believe that its safe
  • not expecting danger
• 'strange its a huge nothing that we fear'

  • afraid of the idea of patriotism in ireland
• Context:

  • Heaney is a northern irish poet
  • in 1966 before "the troubles"
  • stormont is where norther irelands parliment is
• Themes:

  • power of humans
  • power of nature
  • fear
• Structure:

  • shifts from security to fear
  • volta, slows pace of the monosyllabic phrase
  • caesura of calm before storm