A grade 9 answer comparing The prelude by William Wordsworth and Storm on the Island by Seamus Heaney for AQA GCSE English Literature.
This is not guaranteed a full mark answer as it is written by a student but has grade 9 ideas, context, interpretations, which may help as a source for knowing w...
In Storm on the Island and The Prelude, both poems explore the power of nature and the inherent
conflict faced between nature and humanity, as both speakers in the poem experience
disillusionment at the sight of nature’s capabilities. Whilst Heaney explores the power of nature, he
simultaneously uses it as a symbol for the adversity of political conflict faced by Ireland during the
Irish troubles and criticise how people collectively have become so accustomed to conflict. While
Wordsworth who was a pantheist illustrates the internal turmoil Wordsworth experiences from a
philosophical poem characterised by abrupt fear.
At the start of both poems, both speakers are evidently deluded into a false perspective of nature
which doesn’t acknowledge its true capabilities. Heaney presents this as a delusion which is
collectively shared between a community of a remote, rural island (Ireland) who thinks they are
“prepared” to face the Storm as they “build our houses squat, sink walls in rock and roof them in
good slate”, as the collective pronouns “our” and “we” suggests a uniform comfort in the face of
adversity, further reinforced by sibilance and fricative consonance as they join together as a means of
protection, almost rehearsed as if they know what's going to happen. They also desperately seek to
find justification to prove they are safe as “the wizened earth has never troubled us/with hay”, as
nature doesn’t gift them with crops, they believe they are lucky enough they have a ‘nothing to lose’
mindset, already highlighting the brutality of nature and the community’s awareness of it. However,
the “stooks” symbolic of how the cultural identity of the Irish was never able to flourish because it
has repeatedly been belittled due to conflict. However Wordsworth employs a more individualistic
approach towards his delusions as in the beginning of the prelude there is some sort of illusion which
convinces the protagonist he is one with nature as he personifies nature as a female entity- “led by
her”, as if nature is tempting him to do immoral things, which may be a religious allusion to the story
of Adam and Eve, where Eve tempts Adam with knowledge of good and evil however they are both
punished and cursed by God, foreboding the eventual disillusionment which eventually destroys his
romanticised perception of nature as docile and innocent, implied by “a little boat”, while also
hinting at the manipulative capabilities of nature to humans. The iambic pentameter is also broken
here, creating forcefulness, further emphasized by the enjambment leaving him no time to think
about the moral implications of “stealing” the boat. Wordsworth already establishes subtly at the
power of nature while also reflecting the false state of mind he was in as a child. The reader can infer
from this that nature is lulling the child into a false sense of security, and so will be taught a lesson by
nature and put back in his place. However, this also reflects Wordsworth romantic beliefs as a poet
who is more concerned with the beauty of nature and a subjective view of the world to protest
against the unemotional rationalism of the Enlightenment period, where industrialism began to
flourish.
Heaney's later use of language to describe nature immediately evaporates the sense of togetherness
that the community feels in the face of the physical “storm”, highlighting its true capabilities as
shown through “you may think the sea is company, exploding comfortably”, as the oxymoronic
phrase “exploding comfortably” perhaps suggests that although nature may seem like an enemy to
humanity, it is simply existing in its(literally) natural state, thus indifferent to the likes of humans as it
doesn’t own consciousness. The verb “exploding” possessing military connotations reinforces that
humanity as become so accustomed to conflict with each other that we create conflict with our own
natural surroundings. Alternatively, Heaney uses this to criticise society's acceptance of violence as a
normal part of life, with the adverb “comfortably” suggesting it indented in the Irish culture itself,
further reinforced by half rhymes such as “air” “fear” which reflects fear has become so ingrained
almost into the “air” it permeates through everything around us due this never-ending conflict.
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