Hurricane hits England

1
Hurricane hits England

• Grace Nichols

Objective To understand how the poet conveys a
clash of different cultures and deals with the
cultures being side by side.
2
Background on the poet

• She was born in 1950 in Georgetown, Guyana.
• She moved to England in 1977.
• She now lives in Brighton with her husband (also
  a poet) and her daughter.
• The poem is based on a true experience she had
  when a hurricane hit the coast of England in 1987.

3
The poem

• When reading the poem, think about the following
  things
• How the hurricane is described how does it
  move?
• How does Nichols feel about the hurricane in the
  poem.
• Does she see the hurricane as a positive or
  negative event?

4
Hurricane hits England

• It took a hurricane, to bring her closer To
  the landscape. Half the night she lay
  awake, The howling ship of the wind,5 Its
  gathering rage, Like some dark ancestral
  spectre. Fearful and reassuring. Talk to me
  Huracan Talk to me Oya10 Talk to me Shango And
  Hattie, My sweeping, back-home cousin. Tell me
  why you visit An English coast?15 What is the
  meaning Of old tongues Reaping havoc In new
  places?

5

• The blinding illumination,20 Even as you
  short- Circuit us Into further darkness? What
  is the meaning of trees Falling heavy as
  whales25 Their crusted roots Their cratered
  graves? O why is my heart unchained? Tropical
  Oya of the Weather, I am aligning myself to
  you,30 I am following the movement of your
  winds, I am riding the mystery of your
  storm. Ah, sweet mystery, Come to break the
  frozen lake in me, Shaking the foundations of
  the very trees within me,35 Come to let me
  know That the earth is the earth is the earth

6
Hurricane hits England

• It took a hurricane, to bring her closer To
  the landscape. Half the night she lay
  awake, The howling ship of the wind,5 Its
  gathering rage, Like some dark ancestral
  spectre. Fearful and reassuring. Talk to me
  Huracan Talk to me Oya10 Talk to me Shango And
  Hattie, My sweeping, back-home cousin. Tell me
  why you visit An English coast?15 What is the
  meaning Of old tongues Reaping havoc In new
  places?

Written in the third person. Metaphors and
similes are used to describe the hurricane and
its actions why are these effective?
Written in the first person. Talking directly to
the hurricane, using names she would have used in
the Caribbean. Both of these things make the poem
sound more personal now.
She is reminded of her childhood and her roots.
Does she think this positive or negative?
7
Further into the unknown, further into the
confusion she now feels.

• The blinding illumination,20 Even as you
  short- Circuit us Into further darkness? What
  is the meaning of trees Falling heavy as
  whales25 Their crusted roots Their cratered
  graves? O why is my heart unchained? Tropical
  Oya of the Weather, I am aligning myself to
  you,30 I am following the movement of your
  winds, I am riding the mystery of your
  storm. Ah, sweet mystery, Come to break the
  frozen lake in me, Shaking the foundations of
  the very trees within me,35 Come to let me
  know That the earth is the earth is the earth.

She wonders why she is being affected by this.
She again speaks directly to the storm.
Repetition of I makes the poem very personal
She feels at home with the hurricanes presence,
and is remembering and embracing her past.
The hurricane has reminded her of roots she had
forgotten consider her metaphorical tree
shaking and her roots being pulled out of the
ground.
The hurricane helped her overcome feelings of
uncertainty she had when she moved to England.
She now realises that no matter where she is in
the world, she is the same person.
8
Hurricane Hits England.

• Look at the poem in more depth to understand the
  key ideas and also the main themes within the
  poem.

9
Make notes on the following...

1. What is being described and how is it described
   in the first stanza?
2. In the second stanza there is a shift to the
   first person. What is the effect of this and why
   is it important?
3. Look at the similes and metaphors used in stanzas
   1 and 5, what are they describing and how is this
   effective?
4. How do her feelings change towards the storm
   throughout the poem? List at least 2 quotations
   to back up your point.

10
What are themes?

• Themes are the main points/subjects/ideas of a
  piece (or in this case a poem).

11
Main themes of the poem

• Cultural differences.
• Emigration.
• The violent and destructive nature of the
  hurricane mirroring her feelings.
• Being reminded of roots and origins.
• Mixed feelings.
• Nature imagery.

12
Finally...

• In one sentence...describe the key meanings and
  themes behind the poem.