Storm on the island

• Context

  -title spells STORMONT, Ireland assembly

  -war within Ireland
• Form and structure

  -unpredictable rhyme

  -images of safety change to danger

  -direct address
• ‘We are prepared: we build our houses squat’


  -emphatic line, opening with a strong statement

  -caesura, tthey are ready
• ‘Spits like a tamed cat turned savage’


  -simile

  -storm is wild and uncontrollable

  -innocence can be deadly
• ‘Bombarded by the empty air’


  -military metaphor
• ‘Huge nothing that was fear’


  -oxymoron

  -irony

  -juxtaposition, huge physical preparation despite it only being air

  -ambiguous ending