Storm on the Island Flashcards
Context
From a selection of 3 poems that focused on the Aran Islands and how powerful nature is.
Focused on the destructive power of nature rather than the romanticised view of its beauty.
What style of monologue is this?
Dramatic Monologue
What is the effect of the monologue style?
Poem is like a one way conversation, reflecting the position of the islanders who have no one to help during the storm due to their isolation.
What is the metre?
Iambic Pentametre
What is the effect of the metre?
Constant and unrelenting, similar to the storm that is about to damage the island.
What is the effect of the rhyme scheme?
No consistent rhyme scheme.
Reflects how order cannot be imposed onto nature, and that it is more powerful than humans. Relates back to the omnipotence of nature. This contrasts with the very controlled rhythm, demonstrating how humans are attempting to control nature, but in the end, the attempts are futile.
What is the effect of the cyclical structure?
The half rhyme between the first and last couplet “houses squat // good slate” and “the empty air // huge nothing that we fear” connects the belief in the structures that humans have created, and the fear that they all feel after the storm has come through.
Also shows the resilience of the islanders.
What is the effect of voltas?
The poem begins optimistically, with a shift to fear.
What is the effect of enjambment?
The lines overflow, demonstrating the immense power of the storm, uncontrollable by humans, so the description of the storm flows over lines. This is reflected in the arrangement into a single stanza.
What is the effect of the semantic fields?
Military Language
“strafes”, “salvos” compares the storm to a military plane as they are under attack from nature.
What is the effect of colloquialisms?
“you might think”, “but no”, “you know what I mean” includes the reader into the poem signifying that everyone can experience the power of nature.
What is the effect of similes?
“Spits like a tame cat // turned savage” Oxymoronic, as a tame cat should not be able to be aggressive. This again links to the lack of control that humans have over nature, and it will always revert to its dangerous ways, regardless of the control humans attempt to have over it.
What is the effect of writing in first person plural?
Shows the islanders as a community, with each person on the island sharing in the fear and damage that the storm inflicts. Also shares with the reader to make them feel more involved.
What is the effect of referring to nature as company?
“might prove company” and “sea is company” however, both of these thoughts are wrong, as nature betrays them as the “tame cat turned savage” as the cat betrays its owner from turning from its usual docility to an unknown wild cat, intent on causing harm.
Comparisons
Storm on the Island / Ozymandias
SotI / Prelude
