storm on the island

• Dramatic monologue

  A poem where the speaker is addressing the reader directly
• Verbs used to describe the islanders

  • Prepared
  • Build
  • Sit
• Verbs describing the islanders

  • Suggest an element of defense and passivity, not aggression
• The pronoun 'we'

  Represents the people who are not actively involved in the fighting or conflict, but are impacted by it
• Verbs used to describe the storm

  • Blows full blast
  • Pummels
  • Spits
• Verbs describing the storm

  • Aggressive and violent, in contrast to the islanders
• Semantic field of war

  • Exploding
  • Strafes
  • Salvo
  • Bombarded
• Semantic field of war

  Extends the metaphor of the island as a battleground, either literally against the storm or metaphorically against the conflict in Northern Ireland
• The poem can be interpreted as an extended metaphor for the conflict in Northern Ireland
• The poem can also be interpreted as being about the power of nature
• The poem directly addresses the reader, using the pronoun 'we'
• Heaney was writing during a turbulent time in Northern Ireland's history
• The poem's metaphors

  May reflect the political situation in Northern Ireland at the time
• Heaney is making a political point about what it's like living in Ireland
• No

  Emphasizes the lack of protection and exposure on the islands
• Lack of natural shelter

  Islanders only experience the aggression of nature
• Lack of protection

  Relates to the troubles in Northern Ireland
• You might think

  The speaker's voice challenging our perceptions of what it's like to live on the island
• Exploding comfortably

  Oxymoron showing fear and safety, unpredictability of living in Ireland
• "No" serves as a volta, a turning point in the poem
• Spits like a tame cat turned savage

  Simile showing how something gentle can become dangerous and destructive, like nature and the troubles
• Poem structure

  • Written in blank verse with no full rhyme, but some half rhyme
  • Caesura, enjambment, short/long sentences create a sense of disruption and disorder
  • Yet written in iambic pentameter, a very controlled and structured form
• The use of iambic pentameter, a traditional English poetic form, may relate to the troubles in Northern Ireland