Storm on the Island - Seamus Heaney

No 'The' or 'A' in title - Happens all the time
'Prepared' - Expected, secure
Iambic metre
'No stacks or stooks' - Sibilance, sound of wind
Blank verse - Conversational tone
1 long stanza - Alone like people, storm lasts long
'Blows full blast' - Nouns, alliteration, violent, war, bombs
'Wizened earth has never troubled us' - Personification, old friend
'We' - Pronoun, together, community, same situation
Present tense - Sense of urgency
'Squat' - Adjective, low down, strong wind, hidden
8 letters of title spell 'Stormont' - Irish rule
'You know what I mean' - Talking to people, chatty, conversational tone
'Tragic chorus in a gale' - Sad, happens more than once
'Listen to the thing you fear' - Fear hasn't taken hold
'Pummels' - Verb, violent imagery
'You might think' - You don't know
'No trees, no natural shelter' - Repetition, nothing left, blown by storm or bomb, no protection, exposed
'Tame cat turned savage' - Alliteration, change
'Windows, spits' - Sibilance, hissing, sound of bullets
'Exploding comfortably' - Oxymoron, contrast, was relaxing
'The sea is company' - Personification, not company, nature not helping/protecting
'Spray hits' - Metaphor, bullets
'We just sit tight' - Out of their control, nothing to do
'Bombarded' - Verb, attacked
'Salvo' - Noun, rapid artillery fire
'Huge nothing' - Unknown fear
'Fear' - Noun, repetition, last word, hasn't ended

Resource summary

	Created by Samira Choudhury over 7 years ago