anthology: storm on the island.

Question 1

what is the meaning and purpose of the text?

Answer 1

 The narrator describes how a rural island community prepared for a coming storm and how they were confident in their preparations.
 When the storm hits, they are shocked by its power: its violent sights and sounds are described, using the metaphor of war.
 The final line of the poem reveals their fear of nature’s power.

Question 2

what is the context around the text?

Answer 2

 Seamus Heaney was Northern Irish; he died in 2013.
 This poem was published in 1966 at the start of ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland: a period of deep unrest and violence between those who wanted to remain part of the UK and those who wanted to become part of Ireland.
 The first eight letters of the title spell ‘Stormont’: this is the name of Northern Ireland’s parliament.
 The poem might be a metaphor for the political storm that was building in the country at the time.

Question 3

language and structure: explanation and quotes.

Answer 3

 Violent verbs are used to describe the storm: ‘pummels’, ‘exploding’, ‘spits’.
 Semantic field of war: ‘exploding comfortably’ (also juxtaposition to contrast fear/safety); ‘wind dives and strafes invisibly’ (the wind is a fighter plane); ‘We are bombarded by the empty air’ (under ceaseless attack).
 This also reinforces the metaphor of war / troubles. ‘spits like a tame cat turned savage’: simile compares nature to an animal that has turned on its owner.
 We’ (first person plural) creates a sense of community and ‘You’ (direct address) makes the reader feel immersed in the experience.
There is a turning point (a volta) in line 14: ‘But no’. This monosyllabic phrase, and the caesura, reflects the final calm before the storm.

Question 4

key quotes.

Answer 4

 “We are prepared: we build our houses squat”
 “Exploding comfortably down on the cliffs”
 “Spits like a tame cat/ Turned savage”