Storm on the island

• "spits like a tame cat turned savage"


  - simile

  - nature seems comforting but has potential to become destructive

  - "tame cat" is the docile and comforting aspect to nature

  "turns savage" connotes the destructive, dangerous and perilous side to nature

  - when this is unleashed there are physical effects upon humans

  - cat "spits" which literally shows power of the waves hitting the window

  - but also has connotations of the malice and respite of the sea

  - humans are powerless in this
• "exploding comfortably down on the cliffs"


  - away from humans nature seems comforting and maybe even admirable

  - juxtaposed could reflect Heaney's message
• "blast: you know what I mean leaves and branches can raise a tragic chorus in

  a gale"


  - ceasura reflects sudden and destructive transformation of nature

  - "tragic chorus" is an oxymoron perhaps reflecting nature's good and bad side

  
  

  link this with half rhyme creating an unsettling effect
• "wind dives and strafes invisibly"


  - military imagery

  - physical effects demonstrating sheer power of the wind

  - "strafes" connotes attacking personally and repeatedly

  - Metaphor for our fears of the unknown - "invisibly"
• "space is a salvo"

  - military imagery

  - herculean, destructive effect of nature

  
  

  "salvo" is the discharge of artillery
• "bombarded by the empty air"


  - military imagery

  - physical effects could also be overwhelming

  - metaphor for our fears of the unknown.
• "strange it is a huge nothing that we fear"


  - ending of the poem

  - explicitly conveying message
• key idea of the poem

  overwhelming, frightening, destructive power of nature and the vulnerability/powerlessness of man
• more speculative idea


  storm can be seen as a metaphor for our fears of the unknown, or fears we fully don't understand.
• contexts


  OBVIOUS CONTEXTS: Seamus Heaney grew up in rural Ireland, familiar with effects of nature's power on the people and the landscape.

  
  

  MORE SPECULATIVE CONTEXT: title of the poem and violent imagery could suggest the 'Troubles' context.
• structure


  iambic pentameter reflects the resigned attitude of the people

  
  

  - caesura reflects storm's destructive effects and fear it induces in the inhabitants.

  
  

  - half rhyme