1. 1987: Hurricane winds batter southern England Southern Britain has begun a massive clear- up operation after the worst night of storms in living memory. At least 13 people are known to have died and many dozens have been injured, mostly by falling trees and buildings. Rescue workers faced an unprecedented number of call-outs as winds hit 94 mph (151 km/h) in the capital and over 110 mph (177 km/h) in the Channel Islands.

3. Hurricane Hits England Grace Nichols

4. It took a hurricane, to bring her closer To the landscape. Half the night she lay awake, The howling ship of the wind, Its gathering rage, Like some dark ancestral spectre. Fearful and reassuring. Why 3 rd person? An effective metaphor? How do these words make you feel? Why would something so fearful be ‘reassuring’?

5. Talk to me Huracan Talk to me Oya Talk to me Shango And Hattie, My sweeping, back-home cousin. Why repeat the word? Is this possible? Who/what are these names of?

6. Tell me why you visit An English coast? What is the meaning Of old tongues Reaping havoc In new places? Command How is the hurricane a reminder of ‘old tongues’?

7. The blinding illumination, Even as you short- Circuit us Into further darkness? Describing lightening

8. What is the meaning of trees Falling heavy as whales Their crusted roots Their cratered graves? Why does the poet remind us of the sea through her choice of words?

9. O why is my heart unchained? The last question before the answers What is the speaker’s heart ‘unchained’ from? What was it ‘chained’ to?

10. Tropical Oya of the Weather, I am aligning myself to you, I am following the movement of your winds, I am riding the mystery of your strom. The speaker seems to resolve her issues by following nature.

11. Ah, sweet mystery, Come to break the frozen lake in me, Shaking the foundations of the very trees within me, Come to let me know That the earth is the earth is the earth A mystery is something difficult to understand yet magical. What has ‘come to’ the speaker that is difficult to understand, yet is magical? Why does the speaker compare herself with nature? Are foundations usually ‘shaken’ or ‘solid’?

12. Final Thoughts What tone is the poem? Is the speaker happy or sad? What are her main feelings throughout?