“A group of dim, weird forms, struggling, the night confronting,
That savage trinity watching.” This conjures up an image of death waiting to be unleashed into the wilderness. In the same way Storm on the Island gives this effect.
“ So you can listen to the thing you fear
Forgetting that it pummels your house too.” The imagery in this extract is aided by sound and illustrates an undercurrent of violence in a human form but portrayed naturally as a storm.
Clarke and Whitman have presented their poems very differently by giving each either a slow-motion effect or a fast rhythm. For instance in October
“The grave deep as a well takes the Earth’s thud, the slow
Fall of flowers.” This creates a monosyllabic sound and it controls the reader’s response by the use of punctuation and alliteration therefore giving the reader a slow motion effect as the words emphasizes the images of zooming down on the coffins surface. Similarly in Patrolling Barnegat the ending symbolizes both the sounds and shapes of the of breaking waves
“ Shouts of demoniac laughter fitfully piercing and pealing,
Waves, air, midnight, their savage trinity lashing,” This is reflected by the use of alliteration.
Both poems, Storm on the Island and October contain references to nature. For instance in Storm on the island
“The wizened earth has never troubled us…
Blast: you know what I mean- leaves and branches” This constructs an image of survival of the harsh climate but in deeper context the imagery is aided by sound. Equally October refers to Nature but in a less vicious manner
“Then panic running the fields, the grass, the racing leaves” This illustrates that life is getting faster and that maybe the person within the poem is trying to keep up but isn’t managing. This quotation presents a thought of speed.
Whitman and Heaney both display literary overtones in their poems. For example in Patrolling Barnegat
“Steady the roar of the gale, with incessant undertone muttering” This generates a feeling of steady anger whereas Storm on the Ireland contains literary overtones
“ Can raise a tragic chorus in a gale” This expresses a feeling of sad anger as well as chilling terror running down your spine.
Whitman uses a vast amount of repetition within his poem. For example in Patrolling Barnegat
“ Wild, wild…savage trinity lashing, savage trinity watching….
Milk-white combs careering….milk-white combs careering,” A huge amount of alliteration is also used within this poem. Whereas both Heaney and Clarke only use very little amount of repetition for instance in October
“…Her short ride to the hawthorn hedge, lighter
Than hare-bones on men’s shoulders,” This highlights no repetition but alliteration. Similarly in Storm on the Island there is only one case of repetition
“So that you can listen to the thing you fear…
Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear.” In the same way there is barely any alliteration or assonance.
In the poems Storm on the Island and October the poets have used a simile or a metaphor. For instance the poet Heaney has written
“But no: when it begins, the flung spray hits
The very window, spits like a tame cat
Turned savage.” This evokes the emotion of anger and the feeling of disintegrated civilisation. In the same way Clarke uses an animal within her poem but this animal is calmer
“ The stone face of the lion darkens in a sharp shower,
His dreadlocks of lobelia grown long, tangled
More brown now than blue-eyed.” This metaphor connotes the image of a tangled tranquillity.
Lastly all three poems are very similar but also very different. Some have hidden depths others have literary overtones and others express an emotion of pain and healing or a feeling of everlasting fear.
