Storm Warnings by Adrienne Rich

Question 1

Discuss form versus structure in Storm Warnings

Answer 1

Although the poem is about change and disorder, it is well organised and structured on the page
It is conventional and uniform

Question 2

What could the enjambment running through stanza one and two of Storm Warnings suggest?

Answer 2

The impending unstoppable energy of the upcoming storm

Question 3

What does this image suggest?

“I leave the book upon a pillowed chair
And walk from window to closed window”`

Answer 3

Suggests privilege, comfort and elegant drawing room

Question 4

What does the speaker mean when they say

“… weather abroad
And weather in the heart”

Answer 4

○ Actual weather is a metaphor for the interior state of the speaker
○ Speaker knows that both the internal and external storms cannot be prevented or avoided and “come on/Regardless of prediction”

Question 5

What does the speaker say in Storm Warnings that evokes a feeling of powerlessness?

Answer 5

“We can only close the shutters”

Question 6

What sounds do we hear in Storm Warnings?

Answer 6

○ Storm creates an “insistent whine/Of weather” though a keyhole draught
○ “whine” suggests distress

Question 7

What is the tone of the final lines in Storm Warnings, do you think?

Answer 7

“This is our sole defence against the season;
These are the things we have learned to do
Who live in troubled regions.”

More accepting, calmer, collective responsibility