A Comparison of the Storm on the Island by Seamus Heaney and Patrolling Barnegat by Walt Whitman 'Storm on the Island' by Seamus Heaney and ' Patrolling Barnegat' by Walt Whitman are similar in many ways, but there are also strong contrasts. Perhaps the most obvious comparison is the subject matter. Both poems are written from a personal perspective about a storm. Heaney describes the storm from inside a building he prepared for: "We build our houses squatting." The impression is given that the storm according to Heaney is not a rare occurrence and that he writes about many similar storms. The title does not use any articles and is written in the present tense. Whitman, however, speaks as if he were actually in the storm, almost a participant. The reader becomes aware of this when Whitman asks questions: “Is this a wreck? readers can then understand that the poet is experiencing the incident he is describing. Both Heaney and Whitman associate the storm with military terms. The title “Patrolling Barnegat” is self-explanatory; lead the reader to believe that the poem is about a military exercise. This might be considered an odd choice of title for a poem about such a wild and frenzied experience – quite different from a military operation. “Storm on the Island” subconsciously connects the storm to a war by using indirectly related words like “bombed.” “Patrolling Barnegat” is a sonnet – a 14-line poem, usually associated with love. It is strange, then, that Whitman would use this form of poem to describe such an intense and wild experience. Maybe it’s his perception of love. The lack of rhyming couplets and the use of half-rhymes at the end of each “running/mumbling/screaming” line encourages the reader to feel carried away – much like a storm itself. Similarly, “Storm on the Island” is free verse and has no free verses. rhyme or rhythm. It uses the enjambment “spits like a tamed/wild cat” and reads continuously much like a story or conversation. The idea that Seamus Heaney is actually speaking to his audience is reinforced