Island Man Commentary

The poem "Island Man" was written by Grace Nichols, a poet born on a small country village on the coast in Georgetown, US. The poem talks about a man who wakes up in middle of a beach and feels the ambient of the place very relaxing. There is no stress on the man, however, the poem also talks about the relationship of the man and nature and how that vanishes once the man wakes up again in middle of London. The effect and feeling of the poem are emphasised by the variety of literally techniques used by the author, which are mainly used to describe the false feeling of being on an island while having to wake up to reality and deal with a stressful city, once again.

In the first part of the poem the 'island man' wakes up to the sound of the waves, in what we suppose to be, a beautiful beach. "Morning/And the Island man wakes up/to the sound of a blue surf." The wave is described as blue, which gives us the feeling of clear water. The wave describes the flowing and splashing of water which is really relaxing and so gives the effect of a peaceful atmosphere. There is sensory imagery used in the line ,"to the sound of a blue surf", to project to the reader the sound of the waves. The author starts showing the reader that the scenery isn't real, "in his head". She relates the place towards her motherhood and childhood, "The steady breaking and wombing", since she was born in the cost. Also the word 'wombing' is  used to describe the pureness of the feeling, this shows that the author really misses to be in the coast and she is fed up with the city.

In the second part of the poem, the author takes the reader to a closer part of nature, and and even closer  part of her feelings. For example,"wild seabirds/and fisherman pushing out to sea". Wild seabirds are a representation of the Island man, it shows that he is independent and away from any control. It shows that he is free. The fishermen pushing out of the sea tries to explain how the island man is pushing away the city, how he tries to free himself from the strong tide which represents the suburbs of London.  Both lines connect nature with the island man and create a calm ambient which relaxes the reader as it reads on, it also shows how man can convey with nature. Nichols uses a sibilant effect in the words 'pushing' and 'sea' to create a hissing effect of the waves, of nature. Nichols starts her verses with one or two words and then the following line is usually longer. This gives the poem a slow but constant rhythm which creates a peaceful feeling which clearly manages to catch the reader. The next three lines of the verse are also a representation of the island man, fore example "the sun surfacing defiantly/from the east/of his small emerald island". The sun is a strong representation of strength and power, "surfacing defiantly", this is also a personification of the island man. The word 'defiantly' shows how the island man defies the city and prefers to be on the beach. There is a place in London which is located on the east part and it is called 'east end', this part of the city is known to still contain some of the greatest poverty in London. What the author is trying to tell us is that the island man is defying that part of the city and it is turning it away, he is turning away his pain and he is picturing himself on the beach. The line 'of his emerald island' is used to describe the opposite of his real home, it is also a metaphor to describe how beautiful and priceless the island is. The last line of the verse is used to remember the reader once again that the island man is on a dream. For example, "he always comes back groggily groggily". The word groggily is used as alliteration, it is used to describe that the island man is drowsy and sick of the city.

The last two verses of the poem are used to describe how horrible the city is compared to the beach, fore example, "Comes back to sands/of grey metallic soar/to surge of wheels/to dull North Circular roar". The first line says that that the noise and troubles of the city come back in 'sands', this is used as imagery to explain how much the pain is and how hard it is to escape from it since it is so much. The word grey is used as sensory imagery to describe sadness and dulness of the city. the words 'sand', 'soar','surge' and 'roar' are used to describe the nature of the city and its relationship withs the island mans dream of the beach. The word soar describes the high pitched noise of the abounding metal in the city which makes the reader feel irritated and uncomfortable, just how the island man feels. The line 'surge of wheels' shows that the itchiness of the previous noise increased to be even more annoying.
The last line of the first verse creates a juxtaposition of the city and the island, "to surge of wheels/to dull North Circular roar". The North Circular road is usually a road with lots of traffic. The last verse accepts the reality of where the island man is and  then calms down to begin another day. "muffling muffling/his crumpled pillow waves/island man heaves himself/Another London day". Here there is again alliteration used on the repeated word 'muffling'. The word muffling is used to show how the island man tries to quiet the noise from the city, "his crumpled pillow waves". There is again relationship to the beach in the words 'waves' and 'heaves'. Finally the poem finishes with a three word line, "Another London day", to show how simple it is to explain how boring and endless it is to be in London, again.