Both Storm on the island by Seasmus Heany and The Prelude by
William Wordsworth shows the power of nature as a force that is initially undermined by humans but soon come to realise their futile actions against nature's immense power after being confronted with unpreventable catastrophes. However, in the prelude this the romantic poet Wordsworth presents this catastrophe as being a mental torment while in Storm on the island Seamus Heany who wrote was afflicted by the troubles depicts the catastrophe as being physical.

Both Storm on the island and The Prelude utilise structure to convey the power of nature as being unstoppable. In the Prelude Wordsworth implements Enjambment and long stanza lengths to highlight the distressed conditions that afflict the narrator, who in this case Wordsworth himself who wrote the Prelude as an autobiographical piece. This use of enjambment makes it seem like the writer's overwhelming feelings are just being poured out onto the paper and flowing like an endless river as he is unable to rationalise his terrific encounter with the “huge mountain”. Furthermore, Wordsworth uses free verse to depict the lack of control that the narrator possesses in his interaction with nature's power. This will likely leave the reader feeling as though the sublime power of Nature can mentally disrupt people . Similarly, Heany also uses enjambment to highlight the storm as being an endless and horrific aspect of the villagers lives that “bombards” them endlessly inflicting suffering. Although Storm on the Island has regular stanza lengths unlike The prelude the use of half rhyme by Heany promotes a feeling of uncontrollability of the power of nature as the attempts to control through regular stanza lengths proves inconclusive and futile. This will likely leave the reader feeling as though nature's power in Storm on the island is an unstoppable force that continuously barrages the readers island. Therefore, Both poems portray the uncontrollable and overwhelming power of nature through the use of different structural devices.

Both poems start off with a narrator who is blinded by their own perceived superiority who undermines nature. In the prelude the narrator described how “one summer evening (led by her)” he found a small boat. The use of brackets in “led by her” suggests that the writer only realised that his journey was dictated by “her” after it had taken place and in the moment he felt as though he was in control. The personification of Nature as being a “her” adds a gentle tone to the poem and portrays the power of nature as a force that nurtures and takes care of its inhabitants. However, the controlling verb “led” portrays how Nature is still in power in this situation highlighting the arrogance of the reader who thinks he is in power while committing acts of “stealth” which are nothing more than illusions to power. This arrogance portrayed by the reader might be Wordsworth's way of trying to show the foolishness of the human attempts at controlling nature which would have been a key theme in his works due to his status as being a Romantic poet. This illusion of power portrayed by the narrator combined with nature's clear dominance over him will likely leave the reader feeling as though nature's power is unmatchable. Similarly, In stop on the island Heany begins with the narrator speaking in an overconfident style where he re-assures that “this wizened earth has never troubled us” and that they are “prepared”. The verb “prepared” highlights how the narrator feels as though he is ready for any imminent danger that he might face; however, by being “prepared” Heany might be trying to show us that Nature's power is undeniable and that it's a force to be reckoned with. The personification of earth and therefore nature being “wizened” depicts natures power as a calculated and careful force however “wizened” also means to be shrivelled or be old this is another way the narrator presents his arrogance as he thinks the Nature is too frail to do anything conclusive to the island. This may make the reader feel as though Nature's power is a calculated force that strikes with precision rather than being spontaneous and random hightingling the strength of nature's power. Therefore, Both poems start off with a depiction of two arrogant sets of narrators who think they can undermine nature's power but discreetly know that their attempts at doing so are futile.

As both poems progress the initial power of the narrators seems to fade and shift towards nature's power proving the ephemeral status of humanities power compared to natures. In the prelude the narrator finds himself to face nature's power through the “huge peak, black and huge” of the mountain. The repetition of “huge” not only highlights the humongous size of the mountain but also depicts the miniscule and irrelevant status of the narrator when he is being put up against nature's power . The colour imagery of “black” contrasts the gentle and nurturing essence of nature as seen from the start showing to the reader that just as nature's power can be a liberating and nurturing aspect it can just as easily be one of terror and dominion. These contrasts could have been Wordsworth's way of highlighting the sublime power of nature as something that can be awe striking but also something that can be deeply terrifying. This revelation of the dark side of nature will likely leave the reader feeling as though nature's power has dominion over man. Similarly, in a storm on the island the narrator's facade of safety is quickly exposed. This is done through the simile that compares nature to a “tame cat turned savage”. This simile highlights how nature's usually docile power can quickly turn aggressive if needed which mirrors the contrast in the prelude. Furthermore, Heany uses the semantic field of war and even terrorism to depict the intensity at which nature hits back the arrogance of humans this is done through violent verbs such as “bombarded” , “pummels” and “exploding” these words have connotations of terrorism and are likely used by Heany as he grew up in Northern ireland where there was lots of civil unrest due to the IRAs terror campaign against the british northern ireland however this language could also be the description of the frequent storms which Northern Irland experiences which will likely have been ingrained in Heaney's mind. This gruesome depiction of the storm alongside the power of nature's duality will likely leave the reader fearful as to what Nature's power can accomplish if left unchecked. Therefore, both poems use contrast to highlight the duality of Nature's power as a docile and nurturing force and as a violent and imposing one.

Finally both poems end with the power of nature overwhelming and leaving the both sets of narrators disillusioned with their previous beliefs . This is seen in the prelude , when the narrator described how “no pleasant images of trees, of sea or sky, no colours of green fields”. This use of asyndetic listing depicts the magnitude and extent of which the narrator has been impacted showing that not a single friendly thought of nature can reside in his brain after what he has experienced. Furthermore, the narrator explains how his experiences were a “trouble to my dreams”. The fact that the narrator's dreams are disturbed due to his encounter with nature signifies the nightmarish power that nature is able to exert on humans and the deep psychological wound that it leaves. This mental wound that the narrator faces will likely leave the reader feeling as though nature's power is inevitable and unstoppable. In Contrast, storm on the island shows the dissolution of the narrator through his passive nature by the end of the poem. The narrator is seen to “sit tight while the wind strafes and dives” this passive nature juxtaposes the active nature of the narrator as seen in the start of the poem where the narrator is actively preparing against the storm. Furthermore, this passive nature from the narrator is contrasted by the active wind which “strafes and dives” against the helpless villagers while they can just sit and do nothing highlighting the unbeatable and uncontainable nature of nature. This will likely leave the reader feeling as though the fight against nature is futile as Nature's power is not something you can prepare yourself against. Therefore both writers depict nature's power through the capitulation of the narrators.

In conclusion both poems highlight the power of nature as being undermined but by the end its seen how it shouldn't be something that is ignored although the writers depict the afflictions of nature in different ways psychological (the prelude) and physical (storm on the island) At the end of both poems the power of nature is asserted as being superior to any human intervention.