What words spring to mind…. Storm

LO: To begin to explore the power of nature in Heaney’s poem ‘Storm on the island’

Seamus Heaney Seamus Heaney was born in Northern Ireland in 1939, the eldest child in what was to become a family of nine children. His father farmed 50 acres in rural County Derry and was a cattle dealer. Much of Heaney's poetry is centred on the countryside and farm life that he knew as a boy. He won a scholarship to the Catholic boarding school, St Columb's College, Derry, forty miles from home: he was here when his younger brother Christopher was killed, as described in Mid-Term Break. He studied at Queen's University, Belfast and spent some years teaching. In 1965 he married Marie Devlin, and went on to lecture on poetry at his old university, Queen's, for six years (1966 - 72). He was appointed Professor of Poetry at Oxford University in 1989 and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995. He has lived with his family in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland since 1976.

STORM ON THE ISLAND We are prepared: we build our houses squat, Sink walls in rock and roof them with good slate. This wizened earth has never troubled us With hay, so, as you see, there are no stacks Or stooks that can be lost. Nor are there trees Which might prove company when it blows full Blast: you know what I mean - leaves and branches Can raise a tragic chorus in a gale So that you listen to the thing you fear Forgetting that it pummels your house too. But there are no trees, no natural shelter. You might think that the sea is company, Exploding comfortably down on the cliffs But no: when it begins, the flung spray hits The very windows, spits like a tame cat Turned savage. We just sit tight while wind dives And strafes invisibly. Space is a salvo, We are bombarded with the empty air. Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear. Seamus Heaney Is it the storm or the people’s reaction that is the most emotive? Why?

What is the poem about? The poem describes the experience of being in a cliff-top cottage on an island off the coast of Ireland during a storm. Heaney describes the bare ground, the sea and the wind. The people in the cottage are extremely isolated and can do nothing against the powerful and violent weather.

What can we deduce about the island? Sketch a diagram of the island from the description provided in the poem. Highlight on your poem words/phrases that describe things that are absent or negative. What is not there?

Language Which words and phrases bring out the feeling of nature’s power? Where do you first notice words that indicate the coming of the storm? Highlight the verbs in the last 7 lines. What images link them? What other comparisons did Heaney use? Pick three examples of repetition and explore the effect. Annotate your answers on the poem

Compare the representation of nature in this poem and ‘The Prelude’ Comparison Compare the representation of nature in this poem and ‘The Prelude’ Mindmap or bullet point a plan of how you could compare

Plenary Explain in a few sentences how Heaney presents the power of nature in the poem.

Homework Continue writing your exam response comparing the representation of nature in Heaney’s poem and the ‘Prelude’. Use your marking criteria to self assess your work