Themes
English Lit: AQA GCSE Poetry - Power & Conflict, topic 3.1.2
Safety vs Danger: Imagery
At the start of the poem, the Islanders feel safe and secure. This is ironic, given the way the storm attacks them. Heaney uses contrasting images of safety (at the beginning) and danger (towards the end) to emphasise this irony, and how powerless man is compared to nature:
Images of safety
- “Sink walls in rock and roof them with good slate”.
- “Wizened earth”.
- “Never troubled us”.
Images of danger
- “Blows full blast”.
- “It pummels your house too”.
- “Exploding”.
- “Spits like a tame cat / Turned savage”.
- “We are bombarded”.
Violence of Nature
The poet explores ideas about the inhospitality and cruelty of nature. Man is presented as being insignificant compared to the natural world through these devices:
Military metaphors
- "We just sit tight while wind dives / And strafes invisibly. Space is a salvo. / We are bombarded by the empty air."
- "Salvo", "strafe", and "bombarded" are associated with air attacks.
- The military imagery emphasises how violent and aggressive the storm is.
Simile
- The use of the simile – “spits like a tame cat / Turned savage” gives the impression that the storm is wild and uncontrollable.
- It also reminds readers that something that seems innocent can be deadly.
- The use of enjambment (sentences flowing over the end of lines) here further highlights how the storm cannot be contained or controlled.
Test yourself on Themes
Which of these is not a likely reason why Heaney contrasts images of safety and danger in Storm on the Island?
Which of these are images of safety in Storm on the Island?
Which of these are images of danger and destruction in Storm on the Island?
Which words in this military metaphor are associated with air strikes?
"We just sit tight while wind dives / And strafes invisibly. Space is a salvo. / We are bombarded by the empty air."