What is said in the poem is very similar. All three poems have lots of description, such as in Storm on the Island, “…exploding comfortably down on the cliffs,” and in October, “…dead arm in the bright trees.” At the end of Storm on the Island, Heaney writes about fear and this gives us an insight into the purpose of the poem. In October there is a very vivid description of the scene, “Wind in the poplars and a broken branch…” and this sets the scene very well for the reader, and gives them a very good picture inside their head. The experience that Clarke has when she knows that her friend is dead brings her to write an excellent poem that captures her mood very well. Towards the end of the poem she explains that when she is writing the poem, she feels guilty that her friend is dead and that she is alive and so she must write the poem to capture the moments in her life. In Patrolling Barnegat, Whitman describes the power of the challenging storm and also writes very clearly about the description and details of the storm. He writes, “…the sea high running…” and this whole description tells us as the reader an excellent idea of the power of the storm.
How each poem is written is fairly similar, and all three poets use excellent metaphors and personification. In Storm on the Island, Heaney writes about the extended metaphor of artillery, “We are bombarded by the empty air.” In both Storm on the Island and Patrolling Barnegat the description of nature is used in a way to display power in the real world, “…the flung spray hits the very windows…” (Storm on the Island), “Wild, wild the storm…” (Patrolling Barnegat). The extended metaphor in Patrolling Barnegat is that of the trinity, “…that savage trinity warily watching.” Whitman also uses personification when he writes, “…demoniac laughter…” This technique is also used by Clarke when she writes, “The stone face of the lion…his dreadlocks of lobelia…” This is also an extended metaphor of a lion being the stone plant pot. October also has a sympathetic background when Clarke writes, “…more brown now than blue-eyed.”
The purpose of Storm on the Island is different to that of the similar October and Patrolling Barnegat. Storm on the Island is written to get across the message of constant rebellion against nature that Heaney has when writing the poem, “…we build our houses squat…” The purpose of October and Patrolling Barnegat is that of realisation. Whitman experiences constant realisation and knows that he has to do something to save the people who may become shipwrecked, “…is that a wreck? Is the red signal flaring?” and, “…watching wearily…” In October it is more a moment of realisation when Clarke realises that she must write down her memories in order to preserve them, “I must write like the wind, year after year…”
It is very interesting to discover how poets each discover nature in their own lives and how they each write about their memories. It is also interesting how poets write about having to compete against and work with nature.
