Attitude, tone and ideas

Much of the meaning of a poem is conveyed by the attitude it expresses toward its subject matter. 'Attitude' can be thought of as a combination of the poet's tone of voice, and the ideas he or she is trying to get across to the reader.

A good way to decide on the tone [tone: The mood or manner of a text or part of a text. The author's 'tone of voice' or way in which they expect to be understood. The emotional load carried by a text. ] of a poem is to work out how you would read it aloud. Should this poem be read:

• in a solemn, decisive way, showing Heaney's confidence that he will be able to survive the storm?
• in a relaxed, chatty way - suggesting that conversation takes his mind off the storm?
• in a frightened way, betraying anxiety and fear?

In a way all three tones would be appropriate, because the poem starts off expressing chatty confidence in the island's ability to shrug off the storm. Midway through, however, the use of phrases like 'full / Blast, 'the thing you fear', 'Exploding comfortably' betrays anxiety mixed in with the bravado; while by the end of the poem the storm has become frightening and violent - a spitting cat, a strafing dive-bomber.

Ideas

The ideas in this poem concern our uneasy relationship to powerful natural forces, and the feelings of vulnerability and fear we feel in the face of the potentially destructive might of a storm. Have a look at these quotes from the poem, and our suggestions about how these ideas are expressed in each of them.

Themes and Ideas