Storm on the Island
human kind vs nature
On the surface, at least, “Storm on the Island” is a poem about humankind and nature. Though people may build their protected communities to live in, nature is so powerful that no community is ever completely safe from destruction. The poem, then, shows humankind as being in constant negotiation with its environment.
Nature in poetry is often portrayed as idyllic and beautiful. “Storm on the Island,” however, presents another side of the natural world. The poem opens with the speaker describing the architecture of this rural, isolated community. Speaking on the community’s behalf, the speaker outlines how they build their dwellings in a way that they hope protects them from the natural elements. Their houses are “squat,” meaning low to the ground, and this low center of gravity makes them more stable. The walls are reinforced with rock and the roofs are covered with slate. These facts are evidence of the way that this community tries to protect itself from the more extreme aspects of nature (like storms).
