Seamus Heany/Grace Nichols

Authors Avatar

The poems “Storm on the Island” by Seamus Heaney and “Hurricane hits England” by Grace Nichols explore the force of nature. Seamus Heaney and Grace Nichols both had experiences of the power of Nature. There are many similarities and differences between the two poems which must now be examined.

                  Seamus Heaney was born in 1939 in County Derry, in Ireland, at the beginning of the Second World War. He was the eldest of nine children and spent his childhood growing up in the countryside of Mossbawn on his father’s fifty acre farm

Which shows he has much experience of nature’s power?

                   Grace Nichols background is more complicated, because it involves the poets own history of moving between cultures - Caribbean and English and the wider history of both cultures. Grace Nichols also grew up in a small country village but on the Atlantic coast of Guyana, in the Caribbean. In the 1970s, she moved to England, and now lives on the coast of Sussex.

                  We can tell in Seamus Heaney’s poem that he from Northern Ireland as he uses Northern Ireland dialect. He grew up in the countryside and there is countryside and animals in the poem. He has an understanding and fascination with nature from his childhood. Grace Nichols also uses her dialect in the poem which is a Caribbean dialect. This is shown when she addresses the Caribbean Gods in the poem. The poem is based on her move to England and her difficulty in settling in to this culture the poem is also based on real events when serious hurricanes hit England in the 1980’s.

Join now!

                   The voice in both poems is written from a personal perspective. Grace Nichols voice is active and it is telling us how much the hurricane damaged and yet taught her a lesson personally, Seamus Heaney also talks about the destruction of the Island for example: ” Or stooks that can be lost. Nor are there trees which might prove company when it blows full”. Both poems are very dramatic. They both emphasise the power of nature at its worst and how it affects them. The voice in both poems uses a ...

This is a preview of the whole essay