Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- After reading the entire poem, do you feel the people in the poem are really "prepared" as the first line says? Why or why not?
- Do you think that Mother Nature is always an adversary (opponent, enemy) of the people in this poem, or do you think they have a more compatible relationship when it's not storming? What parts of the poem support your idea?
- Even if we suspect this poem takes place in Ireland because it's Heaney's home country, would you be able to figure it out even if you didn't know that? What particular moments or descriptions in the poem are the biggest clues to its location?
- Do you think the people in the poem are lonely people, or do you think they are content and satisfied with their island existence? Why or why not?
- What is the "huge nothing" that they fear in the final line? Could it be more than one thing? What parts of the poem give you your answer?