In the same way Grace Nichols presents comfort, affection is presented. Even though it is applied in different sides, as one reflects affection for England and the other for Guyana. The use of metaphors shows the importance of these places in her life. In the poem ‘Island Man’, Nichols shows this when she says: ‘of his small emerald island’. By using the word ‘his’ she emphasises that the small emerald island belongs to him in the sense that it is part of him, of his life, of his past. Also Nichols shows this feeling for England. This can be seen when written: ‘comes to break down the frozen lake in me’. It means that the use of metaphor describes that she is feeling warmer towards England and she can be more connected. What was ‘frozen’ inside her will change making her being part of England.
Just as comfort or affection, happiness is a good feeling; it shows hope, love and others. Even though in both poems happiness isn’t constant, it is a feeling that plays an important role. In the poem ‘Hurricane Hits England’ the writer presents this when saying ‘come to let me know that the earth is the earth is the earth’. By this repetition, the author express happiness as she has finally found the answers to all the questions she had and at the same time it represents that she now feels complete and part of something as she isn’t confused anymore.
On the other hand, the author shows in the poem ‘Island Man’ this feeling connected to the Caribbean, the way the Caribbean is described inspires happiness, colours and relaxation, just the way the man feels and sees in his dreams. This can be seen when Grace Nichols says: ‘wakes up to the sea of blue surf in his head’. Just like in the Caribbean waves waking up people with its tranquil sound, the man wakes up and is happy because he’s dreaming and again being part of what he loves, the Caribbean. The alliteration of the‘s’ sound that Nichols applies, represents the sound of the sea in his head.
Happiness, affection and comfort are feelings that both poems have in common, but there’s also some feelings that are completely different. An example of this is the confusion in the poem ‘Hurricane Hits England’. While the poem ‘Island Man’ the author describes the two feelings that he man has clear in his heart, in ‘Hurricane Hits England’ the author shows she doesn’t know what to do, that she has a mixture of feelings and thoughts. This can be seen when it says: ‘Reaping havoc in new places?’ The use of rhetorical questions emphasises her confusion and desperation to clear her head and to know the answers. The use of diction in the words ‘reaping’ and ‘havoc’ makes the stanza show more confusion.
Even though confusion isn’t part of ‘Island Man’ the feeling of resignation is. Grace Nichols is very clear when establishing a great connection between the man and the Caribbean and by the contrary with England being far away from loving it. He was just used to live there and accept the life he has, even though it isn’t what he wanted. This can be seen where it says: ‘Another London day’. It means that London days are no different from the others, and even though he doesn’t want them he had to accept it and that there’s nothing he can do to change it. The fact that that line is separated from the rest of the text creates a tone of boredom.
In conclusion we can say that in the poems ‘Island Man’ and ‘Hurricane hits England’ there are found a lot of significant feelings such as confusion, comfort, affection, resignation and happiness. These emotions sometimes change the course of the stories and let us know the cultural conflict between the life in England and the Caribbean. We could appreciate that Nichols’ technique consisted in mixing opposite feelings that interact with each other and make poems more interesting. At the same time se uses metaphors to represent human feelings and her thoughts about the abandon of origin and culture. In my opinion the best poem was ‘Hurricane Hits England’ given that it was more helpful to be aware of the situation most people live, and to understand what people might be feeling. But most of all because it makes readers realize that it doesn’t matter where we are, where we’re from or our culture, we’re still part of the earth.
