1. ‘Exposure’ VS ‘Storm on the Island’

2. Structural Analysis
In ‘Storm on the Island’, the poem is written in free verse which shows that weather/nature is unpredictable and difficult to stop. While in ‘Exposure’, the poem is written in half rhyme, which provides a tight and rigorous structure, giving the poem a sombre tone.
‘Storm on the Island’; the poem is written in a single stanza which shows isolated the island is, which highlights its vulnerability to nature as it stands alone. A great deal of enjambment is used to help add to the conversational tone of the poem. The enjambment also shows the repetitive and never-ending cycle of war.
However, in ‘Exposure’ the poem has regular stanzas as the poem continues the men’s suffering increasingly gets worse and the soldiers are almost in the face of death in the final stanza.
Iambic metre is used in ‘Storm on the Island’, it mimics the movement of the storm and the consistency of the island as it attempts to withstand the massive impacts that nature has.
The repetition of the phrase, ‘But nothing happens’ signifies that the soldiers are all slowly losing hope.
Caesura in ‘Storm on the Island’ shows the pause and renewal of nature’s taunting cycle.

3. Language Analysis
In ‘Storm on the Island’, the poem begins as ‘We are prepared: we build our houses squat’. The collective pronoun, ‘we; highlights the community of the island. The verb, ‘squat’ refers to the people on the island. This agricultural tone suggests the structure of the buildings will be able to withstand the impending storm. It means low, better protected.
Owen begins with ‘Exposure’, ‘Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knife us’. The collective pronoun has also been enlisted by the poet. The phrase, ‘merciless iced east winds’. The adjective, ‘merciless’ highlights the lack of compassion as well as sympathy which the weather has for the men. The personification makes the weather appears to the audience as highly formidable and robust. The hard ‘d’ and ‘t’ sounds creates the effect of sibilant. This helps to establish a dark and bitter tone as the winds inflict an enormous amount of pain upon the soldiers, ‘knife’ showing that it evens penetrates the men. The geographical location of the east is used because this is where the wind is most destructive.
‘We are bombarded by the empty air.’ The verb, ‘bombarded’ is usually associated with military like warfare and machinery. This accentuates the ferocious power of the weather. Also, oxymoron is used when sea is said to be ‘exploding comfortably’. The adverb, ‘exploding’ makes the weather sound dangerous and deadly. The poet contrasts the formidability of the seas with subtle, calm views of the oceans to depict the two sides of weather.
Personification is used, ‘mad gusts tugging on the wire’. The verb, ‘tugging’ implies that they are never left alone and they are consistently tortured. The adjective, ‘mad’ echoes the uncontrollable nature of weather.
A simile is used, ‘the flung spray hits very windows, spits like a tame cat turned savage’. The rich imagery of the water spitting is aggressive and vicious. The cat turning into a savage, once again shows that weather is unpredictable and cannot be ‘tamed’. The cat changes much like the weather.
The ‘poignant misery of dawn’. Dawn has typically positive connotations associated with it. It is viewed as joyful and uplifting. Owen contrasts with idea with adjectives such as, ‘poignant’ and ‘misery’ to allude to that every day seems to lengthen to the increasing extent of the soldiers’ suffering.

4. Themes & Context
The poet, Wilfred Owen, was actually a soldier in WW1. His poem, ‘Exposure’ is based on war so it is linked to conflict. The poem could also be said to be about power about the weather to depicted to be dangerous and taunting the men through the course of the poem.
In ‘Storm on the Island’, the poet Seamus Heaney was born in Ireland, where her grew in a farming community.
The poem explores the conflict between nature and man and peoples’ fear of weather. There is a hint of conflict in the vocabulary used the writer as he uses words such as ‘bombarded’ and ‘salvo’.