Storm on the Island Flashcards
Context: Title
First 8 characters are “Stormont”, which is the Northern Ireland government. Blaming them for the troubles.
LA: Military metaphors, likening the storm to an army, or referencing the troubles
“Strafes invisibly”
“We are bombarded”
“Space is a salvo”
LA: Narrator is used to conflict
“Exploding comfortably”
Oxymoron
Form: Storm is wild, refuses to be controlled
“air” and “fear” are half-rhymes, which reflects how the storm is too wild and cannot be controlled
LA: Sense of security
“We are prepared: we build our houses squat”
Emphatic opening line utilising a caesura to give a sense of confidence and security.
LA: The troubles link implied
“This wizened earth never troubled us”
LA: Danger imagery, presents man as insignificant and powerless compared to nature
“So that you can listen to the thing you fear / Forgetting that it pummels your house too”
Enjambment
LA: Storm is wild and uncontrollable
“Spits like a tame cat / Turned savage”
Simile, enjambment
Key idea to explore
Man is presented as insignificant in contrast to the natural world. The poem acts as a reminder of human vulnerability.
