“The Storm” by Theodore Roethke and “Storm on the Island” by Seamus Heaney both depict the effects and build-up of a storm. They both describe the storms in first person and from the victims’ point of view. Both groups also hide indoors; taking shelter from the storm. They both include descriptions of the wind and sea very often, showing their roles of high destruction to the land. They are both written in first verse. “The Storm” is based in America and “Storm on the Island” is set on a small island in Britain.
A main difference in these two poems are the people who are targeted: the victims of the tragedy that occurs in their respective towns. The islanders from the “Storm on the Island” poem are prepared, (“We are prepared: we build our houses squat”), as if they were expecting the storm, even though “the wizened earth” had never troubled them, in contrary to the people from “The Storm”, who were not at all ready, and slightly confused at first. “Where have all the people gone? This rhetorical question from the poem shows that the victims were unaware that the storm was coming, as other people were suddenly escaping to safety, leaving them behind.
They slowly realise that they should evacuate when it’s “A time to go home! ” I like the use of speech and questions in “The Storm” because they tell the story better, and the writer lets you feel more empathy for the victims, since it allows understand their thoughts and feelings. More so than in “Storm on the Island”, because they were prepared and safe). Roethke also describe the actions of the people more frequently, “We lie closer on the gritty pillow, breathing heavily, hoping” and other extracts describing their actions, like “We wait, we listen”, for example. Both poems make effective use of imagery. “The Storm” is portrayed as very frightening and destructive. There are lots of descriptions about the surroundings, how nature has been damaged, the roaring wind and crashing waves.
It says that the waves were “riddling the sand like a wide spray of buckshot”, this simile used explains the impact of the tide frantically coming in to shore, causing the sand to move quickly and with impact, much like a gun’s bullet. The lightning is “beating the walls” and “driving the last watcher indoors”. This means that the lightning was so powerful that it was almost badly damaging the walls, or “beating” them; using such power to control other people and scare them away, as if the storm is invading the land and taking over like a dictator.
In “Storm on the Island”, the sea is described as company, like a friend who can comfort or relax you. But then once the storm hits, it grows wild and dangerous, spitting “like a tame cat turned savage”. The sea is also described as a tame cat because it’s usually unharmful and well-behaved; a good companion; but it suddenly turns, out of the blue, attacking like a vicious feline. “Leaves and branches can raise a tragic chorus in a gale” is a good use of personification, stating that the debris blowing in the wind is singing or whistling.
The whistling feels melancholic because everything is getting destroyed and ruined, and they have no choice but to just fly along in the wind, which is described as “a huge nothing”. I really like this metaphor because it is effective and memorable. You can’t see wind, it’s almost as if it isn’t there, but it makes it’s presence clear by all the things it destroys and brings along with it. The imagery used to describe the wind, ‘We just sit tight while the wind dives and strafes invisibly”.
This shows the wind’s erratic movements and attacks, bringing it to life, as if it were a soldier on a battlefield bombarding his enemies. Overall, I prefer the use of imagery in “Storm on the Island” because I feel a deeper meaning. Lots of imagery used is very notable. It makes you think, and question what it means. There are several impactful words used in the poems as well. “Wizened” is a word that makes an appearance in both. I like it, because it brings to life the things being described, as if it were a wise old man.
Words from “The Storm” used to describe the wind’s force, like “whine” and “fume” to describe the rain remind me of different emotions, giving more depth and personality to the natural disasters. Verbs such as “riddling”, “creeping”, “driving” and “billows” are used as good alternatives for simpler words. “To their cards, their Lachryma Christi” is one of my favourite nouns in the poem, because it perfectly describes the way the victims were trying to distract themselves from the terrors occurring outside, trying desperately to dispose of their worries, with something as simple as a card game.
At the start, verbs like “flapping” and “whistling” are used. Whistling is usually a very light-hearted and soft procedure, which contrasts to the violent storm. This shows how slow it started off and gradually turned into something far more dangerous. I like the adjectives used as well, my favourites being “limber”, “wizened”, “gritty” and “whitening”. Most of the other words are easy to understand and don’t have much impact. Adjectives like “dirty”, “heavy”, “black”) and “Storm on the Island” also has many great verbs which describe the harsher impacts of the storm, such as “pummels”, “exploding”, “spits” and “strafes”. Heaney was more successful in describing how disastrous the storm was, because he uses very interesting words that have a lot of influence on the general disasters that occurred. There are many other effective uses of language techniques, such as alliteration. In “The Storm”, “the small streetlamp swinging and slamming” successfully describes the wind causing movement of the lamp.
This is the longest use of alliteration, as the others are simply two words put together, for example “Flicking the foam”, “Black rain runs”, “Whine of wires” and “The sudden shudder”. I like these because they are catchy and to the point. They are just as efficient as the lengthier extracts. And then, in “Storm on the Island”, the uses of alliteration are much harder to find and more spread out: “Blows full blast”, “while wind dives” and “Space is a salvo”, which is not only alliteration but also a metaphor.
The choice of word pairs are more interesting and easy to understand in “The Storm”, in comparison to “Storm on the Island”, and Roethke has used these techniques more frequently throughout his poem. “The Storm” has a very gradual and slow-paced build-up, showing what happens before as well as the aftermath, whereas “Storm on the Island” only has half the length, with several things happening all at once and ends on a metaphor that leaves you on edge.
The island is smaller compared to America, it therefore could be more vulnerable, as it is quickly effected by the storm, which could be a metaphor in itself. “The Storm” is arranged in a more disorganised fashion than the latter, to describe the huge mess the storm creates. Both uses of length are good for effect, and both also make good impact for suspense and tension. Both vary in sentence length, which successfully creates effect for both.
Long sentences in “Storm on the Island” such as “leaves and branches can raise a tra chorus in a gale” and “listen to the thing you fear, forgetting that it pummels your house too” are useful; the organisation of them in poem makes them even better. I prefer the length of “Storm on the Island” because it’s more concise and to the point and gives you the chills, whereas “The Storm” drags on and it doesn’t feel as suspenseful or exciting.
Overall, “The Storm” has a more the long-winded structure and longer lines with words that are easier to understand, and is more successful in terms of making you feel compassion for the ictims and understanding their worries about the danger in the outside world. Although “Storm on the Island” doesn’t necessarily share this trait, I prefer it over the other, as the length and several memorable and impactful metaphors and imagery are used, as well as the sophisticated language, cleverly placed words and personification. Of the two, “Storm on the Island” is most effective because the lines feel more polished, and sharper. It feels more suspenseful, with an unforgettable ending
