Nichols used to live in the Caribbean were Hurricanes weren’t as unusual.
Heaney is from rural Ireland and his father was a farmer, he talks about how much effort he has put into his house. Heaney uses military metaphors to describe the storm, this may be because he was writing through the height of the troubles.
In ‘storm on the island’ Heaney emphasizes the isolation of rural Ireland when he says, “Nor are there trees which might prove company when it blows full blast”
The theme in ‘Hurricane Hits England’ is the weather since it is unusual to see a Hurricane on the English coast. It also explores the emotions and ideas brought on by the storm. First she feels fear, this emotion changes to helplessness where the poet writes “O why is my heart unchained” and she has an awakening experience when she feels that nature is bigger than culture “ the earth is the earth is the earth”, this enables her to feel at home in England.
The main theme on ‘Storm on the Island’ is isolation; Heaney tries to show us that when you are on an island you can’t escape isolation. He also wants to show the power and violence of nature. Heaney underestimated the power of nature and in his poem he metaphorically describes the storm as war “ we are bombarded by empty air” Heaney is very confident that the storm wont damage his house because he has spent so long building it “ we are prepared: we build are houses squat”. I think Heaney is trying to tell us that no matter what we do as humans we can not control the power of nature. Both poets seem confident that the storm wont damage their property but they both underestimate the power of nature. Heaney describes the water hitting the cliffs as “Exploding comfortably down the cliffs”
Nichols describes the trees “falling heavy as whales” this means the trees are falling with a big thud.
In the structure of ‘storm on the island’ there are 19 lines and three sections. In section one Heaney is confident that the storm won’t damage his house “Sink walls in rock and roof them with good slate”. In section two Heaney starts to realise the power of nature and his confidence weakens “So that you listen to the thing that you fear”. In section three Heaney get lonely and feels helpless because there is nothing he can do to stop the storm damaging his house “We just sit tight while wind dives and strafes invisibly. In ‘Hurricane Hits England’ there is seven stanzas and one changing line “O why is my heart unchained” were the poem changes from a description of the storm to an exploration of her roots.
In both poems the titles are blunt and explicit and read like newspaper headlines.
There are striking images in both poems. In the poem ‘Hurricane Hits England’ Nichols starts in third person Narrative and then changes to first person narrative in the last two stanzas. This is because at the end she is describing her feelings whereas at the start she is just describing the things around her. In ‘Storm on the island’ Heaney writes in third person narrative and uses a conversational tone “you know what I mean” he does this because he wants to feel like he is talking to someone so that he isn’t lonely. He also metaphorically describes the storm as a war “We are bombarded by the empty air” Heaney uses similes in his poem “spits like a tame cat” as does Nichols “falling heavy as whales”
In my opinion both poets equally describe the storm vividly. Heaney uses strong words to show the strength of the storm like “savage”, “strafes”, “bombarded”, “gale” and “pummels”, he also describes the isolation “nor are there trees which might prove company when it blows full blast”. Nichols uses equally strong words such as “havoc”, “Hurricane”, “rage” and “cratered graves”. Heaney describes the storm very vividly when he says “the flung spray hit the very windows, spits like a tame cat turned savage.” What he means here is that you wouldn’t expect a tame cat to turn savage in the same way you wouldn’t expect the calm sea to get so rough. I did not find the descriptions in ‘Hurricane Hits England’ interesting and found it hard to relate to the metaphor of whales since I have only seen a whale once.
I thought both poets used striking images but Heaneys more so; I particularly liked Heaneys comparison of the storm to war and his display of the isolation and loneliness in rural life. I enjoyed storm on the island most as he used vivid descriptions of the storm to war. I found this metaphor help me visualise the storm. In ‘Hurricane Hits England’ I thought the structure was very different, changing from third person to first person to show the movement from description to feeling was effective.
