This document was used in my revision and helped me to achieve a Grade 9 in my English Literature GCSE (159/160) - key words and alternative interpretations of quotes are provided.
SEAMUS HEANEY ·
written about the Aran islands ,
a
We are prepared: we build our houses squat, three islands
! Sink walls in rock and roof them with good slate. group of on the West
Coast of Ireland
This wizened earth has never troubled us
3 ↳ the power of nature on these islands
is explored in the poem
&
With hay, so, as you see, there are no stacks
3
Or stooks that can be lost. Nor are there trees
structure :
6
Which might prove company when it blows full 1 Long Stanza/verse (made up
Blast: you know what I mean – leaves and branches of long complex sentences
.
7
z
Can raise a tragic chorus in a gale ↳ reflects the overwhelming
9
So that you listen to the thing you fear Situation the speaker is in
10 Forgetting that it pummels your house too. . Enjambment (lines 5-10)
2
11 But there are no trees, no natural shelter. ↳ the constant strong barrage is
12
You might think that the sea is company, Presented through structural choices
13 Exploding comfortably down on the cliffs
. Cyclical structure (in the rhyme
3
scheme
14
But no: when it begins, the flung spray hits ↳ the storm is inescapable and will
15 The very windows, spits like a tame cat
occur repeatedly a way of life for
16 Turned savage. We just sit tight while wind dives
,
the people in the poem
17
And strafes invisibly. Space is a salvo,
18
We are bombarded with the empty air. these structural points can be applied
*
19
Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear. to the conflict in Ireland
*
FORM :
Half-rhyme (lines 1-2 & 18-19)
↳ the wild storm recuses to be controled/organised like the poem
·
(could be) Dramatic Monologue
why ? the one-sided view presented in a dramatic monologue
-
reflects the ,
imbalance in the relationship between the speaker and nature
↳ the only dominant voice is the speaker which could suggest that nature is
indifferent to the suffering it is putting the speaker through
Language :
1 .
Casual language :
'You know what I mean
↳ oxymoronic :
contrast between the language emphasising conflict and power and
everyday language
highlights that this is the speakers reality-helps the reader understand
↳
↳ the speaker is trying to relate to the reader in an unrelatable Scenario
.
2 'exploding comfortably
↳ Oxymoron-highlights the fact that the speaker has made sense of his
Chaotic reality
. 'Stormont'
3 =
first 8 letters in the title
↳ the name of the Parliament buildings in Ireland >
-
this links the poem to
politics
4
. 'We' pronoun
↳ solidarity (between the Catholics)
sense of highlighting opposition -
.
5 warfare language 'Blast' 'pummels' 'exploding'
:
,
bombarded' 'strafes'
, , , ,
'sato'
↳ numerous references to war may be because the
this storm can be read as a
-
metaphor for the violent political struggles in Ireland
potential comparisons:
• extract from the prelude (the uncontrollable power of nature)
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