Storm on the island

Question 1

Storm on the island
Summary

Answer 1

Heaney has authored a poem about a community of islanders who are preparing for a storm, investigating the battle of ​nature vs man​. It centres on their experience of the storm, and how they appear to get them regularly, and then how this impacts life on the island as they wait inside for it to pass.

Question 2

Storm on the island
Key quotations

Answer 2

We are prepared: we build our houses squat, …
The wizened earth had never troubled us. …
With hay, so as you can see, there are no stacks. …
Which might prove company when it blows full. …
Blast: you know what I mean - leaves and branches. …
Can raise a chorus in a gale

Question 3

Storm on the island
Poems that link to it

Answer 3

The prelude

Question 4

Storm on the island
Important contextual information

Answer 4

Heaney’s poetry is often about the countryside, recalling his childhood in Northern Ireland. This poem describes the experience of being in a cliff top cottage off the coast of Ireland during a storm. However, on another level it could be an extended metaphor for the troubles in Northern Ireland