Hurricane Hits England by Grace Nichols Flashcards
Context:
- Grace Nichols was born in Guyana, where unpredictable and stormy weather is more common than in England.
- She moved to England, a new home and experience for her, and the hurricane of 1987 (“Great Storm of 1987”) heavily influenced her to write this poem since it reminded her of her original homeland.
- She said that she felt at home in both places and wanted to embrace “both worlds”, despite the clear sense of confusion and inner confusion about her cultural identity within the poem.
- There is also a link to British colonialism and migration from the Caribbean.
Form:
- Free verse; no set meter or rhyme scheme as well as varying stanza length, allowing freer, more fluid expression, perhaps imitating the flowing, unrestrained winds of the hurricane.
- The free nature of the form also reflects the “unchained” heart of the speaker.
- Structurally, there is a volta when the poet asks why her heart is “unchained”, signifying her transition from a confused state to a reassured and enlightened state.
What could the hurricane be a symbol for?
Transformation (confused to confident)
KEY QUOTE: The poem begins in the third person, creating a powerful sense of detachment, exemplifying the speaker’s mixed emotions about her culture:
“It took a hurricane, to bring her closer”
KEY QUOTE: The hurricane is personified with animalistic auditory imagery (“howling”), as well as with the human emotion of “rage”, exemplifying its intimidating and imposing nature that frightens the speaker:
“The howling ship of the wind, its gathering rage”
KEY QUOTE: Simile compares the hurricane to a ghost from the past, exemplifying her familiarity yet fear of it, furthering her sense of internal conflict about her cultural identity:
“Like some dark ancestral spectre”
KEY QUOTE: Oxymoron powerfully emphasises inner confusion:
“Fearful and reassuring.”
KEY QUOTE: The speaker calls upon the Gods of her culture; the use of anaphora and apostrophe to the Gods reflects her strong desire to connect with the hurricane and therefore her original culture:
“Talk to me Huracan/Talk to me Oya/Talk to me Shango”
KEY QUOTE: Rhetorical question accentuates confusion and desperation to find answers:
“Tell me why you visit an English coast?”
KEY QUOTE: Symbol of clarity and realisation, juxtaposed with darkness, a symbol of oblivion and confusion; the juxtaposition depicts the inner confusion:
“The blinding illumination, even as you short-circuit us into further darkness?”
(also a rhetorical question)
KEY QUOTE: Single-line stanza that seems to be the volta in the poem; the speaker feels a strong sense of realisation and freedom as she realises her true identity and the eternal truth about the world and culture:
“O why is my heart unchained?”
KEY QUOTE: Anaphora of “I am” creates a strong sense of certainty and self-assurance, reflecting the dissolving of her confusion, leading to her confidence; the use of present continuous tense creates a sense of dynamic action, highlighting the fact that the speaker is actively aligning themselves with the hurricane and her original culture, furthering the sense of clarity:
“I am aligning myself to you, / I am following the movement of your winds, / I am riding the mystery of your storm.”
KEY QUOTE: The “sweet mystery” exemplifies the fact that the speaker has aligned with the storm; the “frozen lake” is perhaps a symbol of the speaker’s alienation and emotional confusion - the fact that the hurricane breaks this shows that it has liberated her, allowing her to connect with her true identity:
“Ah, sweet mystery, come to break the frozen lake in me”
KEY QUOTE: The poem ends on a powerful note of finality and certainty; the triadic repetition exemplifies the fact that the speaker is confident about their cultural identity and the fact that she belongs to the Earth, so can feel at home anywhere; the hurricane has catalysed the transformation of the speaker from unsure to enlightened:
“The earth is the earth is the earth.”
Summary:
This poem features a confused speaker, emotionally detached from society, leading to a strong sense of alienation as a result of her cultural confusion; the hurricane seems to fuel her transformation into a self-assured and confident speaker that realises that she belongs to the Earth, through her alignment with her culture as a result of the hurricane. The use of free verse further portrays her liberation and allows her to express herself more freely, interestingly echoing the fluid movements of the hurricane.
