Storm on the Island

The poet - Seamus Heaney was a poet in Ireland, he grew up in a farming community and wrote most of his poems on very normal and homely subjects like agriculture

'The troubles' - The conflict between Irish Protestants and Cathloics over Nothern Irelands's place in the United Kingdom. It lasted 30 years and ended with the Good Friday agreement in 1998

First 8 letters of the title spell 'Stormont' - A political building in Northern Ireland where issues related to the troubles were discussed

The poem is in blank verse with 19 lines. There are 10 syllabes per line

The verses are unrhymed and this gives a conversational tone, as well as the regular use of enjamberment

Present tense suggests the storm is ongoing - metaphor for the never ending conflict

'It is a huge nothing that we fear' - Metaphor for the constant fear of when the next IRA attack may occur. Also, he humbles the weather to play down how much threat it poses. This links to his mindset towards the troubles, his Catholic beliefs allow him to not be scared; God will protect him

Semantics of warfare 'salvo' 'bombardment' - Further strengthens the link between the poem and the troubles. Furthermore, it highlights the damage the storm can cause linking it to words that would strike fear into soldiers