storm on the island Flashcards
what is storm on the island about
it is about a community of islands preparing for a storm. whilst this occurs, they investigate the battle of nature vs man. it centres on their experiences and how the storm in itself impacts their personal lives on the island.
context of heaney
Heaney is a Northern Irish poet who was born in Northern Ireland but Catholic and moved to the Republic (nationalist). He wrote mostly about the landscape and rural life of Ireland, and grew up in a village as part of a farming community, leading to most poems about normal rural life. His early poems focused on ancestry, identity and nature, with nature as a metaphor for human nature, using it to explore identity.
significance of the time period
Storm on the Island is part of a three-poem segment in the collection ‘Death of a Naturalist’ which was focused on the Aran Islands and how nature shows its power there. The Aran Islands are used traditionally in Irish poetry as a symbol of Irish culture, and are home to some of Ireland’s oldest remains and archaeology ‘Death of a Naturalist’ was Heaney’s first collection, and the title is to demonstrate the violence of nature rather than a romanticised view of its beauty.
structure
The poem begins optimistically but the tone shifts to one of fear. This shift could reflect the final calm before a storm, and also the inability for the islanders to prepare for it properly because they cannot see it coming
The half rhyme between the first and last couplet [“houses squat / good slate” and “the empty air / huge nothing that we fear”] creates a cyclical structure that connects the preparation for the storm at the start, to the fear of the storm’s power at the end
The cyclical nature of the poem shows the resilience of the islanders. Storms will come again and again, and they have to learn to live with them and endure it: the cycle of preparation, storm and recovery is never ending. However, due to the fundamental insufficiency of human power, no matter what humans do there is always the possibility that nature will destroy it because nature’s power is greater
main idea 1
power of nature
‘spits like a tame cat
Turned savage’
‘we are bombarded by the empty air’
Mistaken belief they had tamed nature – then the cat turns against its owner. Replicates how the islanders never owned nature – it was always more powerful than them. Split the tamed and known nature before from the violent aggressive storm
the islanders realise inability to control the storm, displayed through the poem’s cyclical content and narrative as the islanders always end up afraid. It could also potentially about the Northern Ireland conflict.
The lines overflow which implies the constant barrage of information or alternatively the constant barrage of the storm. This is reflected in the arrangement of the poem into one single stanza, as it mirrors the overwhelming power of storms. The reader becomes overwhelmed by the size of the poem and the breathlessness created from the enjambment replicates the panicked feeling of the islanders as they are faced with the storm
main idea 2
community vs isolation
‘We are prepared: we build our houses squat,’
‘you might think that the sea is company’
this quote reflects the continuous theme of community vs isolation in the situation of a natural disaster
community, one, togetherness
solidarity, unity
The contrast between the unification of a community and the isolation of the island is emphasised by these quotes. Furthermore, As the poem is written in dramatic monologue there is no reply to the speaker which emphasises the isolation of the islanders.
On the other hand, it is written in collective voice (first person plural) which shows the islanders are speaking as a community: they are all united community against a common threat, yet isolated by their individual fears. The contrast between the two perspectives increases the tension for the reader
main idea 3
fear
‘tragic chorus’
‘can raise a tragic chorus in a gate’= oxymoron
tragic chorus is an oxymoron
chorus= unity, harmonisation, power and triumph, patriotic?
juxtaposed with tragic= explicity signifying downfall, bad luck , catacylysmic, catasprophic
