Grade 9 GCSE Storm of The Island& Prelude Comparison Essay
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Grade 9 English Literature GCSE Comparison Essay for the poems Storm of the island and The Prelude.
AQA Gcse Power and Conflict Poetry. 30/30 Essays of what a good one looks like.
Compare the way Power of Nature is presented in The
Prelude and in the Storm in the Island (30/30)
Both ‘The Prelude’ and ‘Storm of the Island’ adumbrate the idea of nature being hegemonic; they
elucidate the narrator’s trepidation due to nature’s belligerent forces. The way this one idea is
elucidated in the two poems is what makes them antithetical. In ‘The Prelude’, empyrean imagery
is used to portray nature as pulchritudinous and serene yet still powerful, however in the Storm of
the Island, the imagery is a vivid and conspicuous depiction of nature’s power.
Both poems display vividly the idea that nature can transmogrify anything; no matter whether
dwellings are built to seek protection from nature’s elements (Storm of the Island) or whether
that’s believing you’re in control of nature (The Prelude). Storm of the Island begins with “We are
prepared: we build our houses squat, Sink walls in rock and roof them with good slate.” This
caesura indicates to the reader that the people are prepared; yet the sibilance of S in this phrase
has a windy quality to them which prognosticates the threat of a potential storm. Heanues
perhaps suggests how the threat of nature is always near even if precautions are taken. “Wizened
earth” is emblematic of how nothing can be embedded into the earth on this island as it will be
destroyed by nature due to its superiority. Similarly, in the Prelude, the protagonist starts off
confident, engaging with this idyllic setting where there is “sparkling light” and in the similar
where his confidence is elucidated, “But now, like one who rows, Proud of his skill, to reach a
chosen point”. Yet in both poems, a drastic change in tone gives strident orchestration to the
belligerent nature taking over.
Both poems employ circumlocution in order to display an anarchic and tumultuous atmosphere
caused by the power of nature. In the Prelude, the structure becomes more chaotic after the volta
and makes heavy use of enjambment. In lines 22, the meter also becomes distorted; first foot
being an anapest and the fourth foot is a spondee. These ambiguous deviations from the meter
convey how the appearance of the peak disrupts the speaker’s sense of his environment. Just as
the stresses in this line seem to warp and twist, so too does the landscape in front of the speaker.
In the Storm of the island, enjambment is used to mirror the unpredictable and belligerent nature
of the storm. In Line 14, the speaker pauses its phrase abruptly with a diminutive, “But no.” The
caesura is sudden and almost; forcing the reader to stop and confront the reality the speaker is
portraying. To heighten the veracity of the terrors, Heaney describes the sea with
anthropomorphism; holding the ability to spit on islanders with an unnerving menace and the
clustering of stressed syllables further accentuates this. Through portraying the inimical effects, it
can have, Heaney once again highlights the extreme power of nature.
Both poems also elucidate the power of nature through linguistic dexterity. In the Storm of the
Island, Heaney uses an unusual simile, likening the sea-spray to a ‘tame cat’ that has become
savage. ‘Cats’ rapidly acquire the figurative senses of comfort, yet they return to “savage”; this
accentuates the poem’s quiet sense of threat and belligerency. Through this, Heaney may be
alluding to the violence that interrupts tense periods of peace time in Northern Ireland; a
regression of civilizations. It may be suggestive of how through this conflict, humans are returning
to violence and wildness, analogous to how the pet becomes a beast again. This idea is further
explored in line 8; where poem likens the sounds of a storm blowing through trees to a ‘tragic
chorus’ - a key component of Ancient Greek tragedy. A chorus is often used to explain events and
to prognosticate tragic events; hence why the sheer mention of the chorus places the poem within
the context of potential tragedy. Heaney perhaps highlights how though the storm – literal or
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