Storm on the Island Flashcards
Form
Dramatic monologue - one way conversation reflecting position of islanders who have no one to help during the storm because they’re isolated and alone: no reply to speaker emphasising isolation of islanders
Poem written in collective voice: islanders speak as a community against a common threat, but are isolated by their individual fears.
Informal tone - islanders used to storm and that part of life on the island is enduring nature, with the storm earning no special occasion
Structure
Iambic pentameter - constant rhythm would could reflect a conversational tone to engage the reader, reflects only as a community can the storm be endured.
No consisteng rhyme scheme - omnipotence of nature, contrasts with controlled rhythm which works to show human power resisting power and chaos of a storm
Cyclical structure - half rhyme between first and last couplet(“houses squat/good slate” and “the empty air/huge nothing that we fear”) creates a cyclical structure connecting the preparation for the storm at the start, to the fear of the storm’s power at the end. Cyclical structure shows resilience of islanders for never ending cycle of preparation, storm and recovery, but nature will always destroy human power
Volta - Poem tone shifts from optimism to fear, reflects final calm before a storm, and also the inability for the islanders to prepare for it properly because they cannot see it coming.
Enjambment - Lines overflow, constant barrage of information/storm creating breathlessness
One single stanza - mirrors overwhelming power of storms
Language
Semantic field of military language and violence - the air “strafes” and “salvos”: storm compared to a military plane so Heaney shows the speaker the islanders are under attack from nature
Colloquialisms - conversational tags suggest everyone can experience the impact of nature, like “you know what I mean” and “you might think”
Similes such as “spits like a tame cat”, oxymoronic because a tame cat shouldn’t be aggressive, but if the cat’s a simile for nature, Heaney’s suggesting nature has a tame and docile side so isn’t always like this.
Personification - nature “pummels”: storm’s malicious intent to damage
Natural language - “no stacks or stools that can be lost” shows the power/damage of nature is unknown
