Storm on the Island - Seamus Heaney

Question 1

Themes? (4)

Answer 1

Conversational, resolute, tension,
resilience

Question 2

Tones? (5)

Answer 2

Nature, community, strength,
vulnerability, conflict.

Question 3

Context? ()

Answer 3

• The poem was published in Heaney’s first collection in 1966, which is just before what’s generally agreed upon as the outbreak of the Troubles conflict— a
  complicated situation that involved
  ongoing tension and violence between those who wanted Northern Ireland to join with the rest of Ireland, and those who wanted it to stay part of the United Kingdom.
• Furthermore, “Ireland” itself is an
  island and these two words are
  homophones (they sound almost the
  same when said out loud).

Question 4

Meaning and purpose?

Question 5

Language? ()

Answer 5

• First person plural pronoun: signals
  immediately to the reader that this is a poem about community.
• Consonance- creates a resolute tone and reinforces the idea of a solid structure.
• Plosives to mirror the aural impact of an extreme weather event.
• Allegory- the reference to ‘trouble’ could suggest that the poem is an extended metaphor for the ‘troubles’ in Northern Ireland. ‘Blasts’ also has connotations of bombs.
• Personification of the trees being like a chorus in Greek theatre. Considering that a chorus’s role in Ancient Greek plays was often
  to provide information, commentary, and interpretation to a play’s main action, perhaps this is another subtle hint that the reader should take this poem to be as much about
  Ireland as it is about the “Island”
• Oxymoron- “exploding comfortably”- increases tension.
• Simile- “spits like a tame cat” implies that nature has a dual quality.

Question 6

Form? (2)

Answer 6

• Caesura to emphasise the bareness of the land.
• Enjambment- exposing the line-endings to the white space of the page, mirroring the way that the island is exposed to the
  natural elements at its edges

Question 7

Structure? (2)

Answer 7

• One long unbroken stanza made up of 19 lines. The lack of stanza breaks signals this ongoing tension. The lines also seem to huddle together.The mass of text is like an island, the white space of the page around it looks like the sea.
• Blank verse. This means each line is
  iambic pentameter. The regularity of the meter also feels a little tense -the
  constant onslaught of nature? In line 7, the poem swaps the first iamb for a trochee, bringing the stressed syllable forward to the start of the line (“Blast”). This has the effect of conveying the strength and violence suggested by the word “blast,” hinting at the destruction that will come when the storm does
  eventually arrive.