Island Man

(for a Caribbean island man in London who still wakesup to the sound of the sea)

Morningand island man wakes upto the sound of blue surfin his headthe steady breaking and wombing

wild seabirdsand fishermen pushing out to seathe sun surfacing defiantlyfrom the eastof his small emerald islandhe always comes back         groggily groggily  Comes back to sandsof a grey metallic soar                             to surge of wheelsto dull North Circular roar

muffling mufflinghis crumpled pillow wavesisland man heaves himself  Another London day  Grace Nichols

ISLAND MAN

Isla

nd M

an

(for a

Car

ibbe

an is

land

man

in L

ondo

n w

ho s

till w

akes

up to

the

soun

d of

the

sea)

Mor

ning

and

isla

nd m

an w

akes

up

to th

e so

und

of b

lue

surf

in h

is h

ead

the

stea

dy b

reak

ing

and

wom

bing

wild

sea

bird

san

d fis

herm

en p

ushi

ng o

ut to

sea

the

sun

surfa

cing

def

iant

lyfro

m th

e ea

stof

his

sm

all e

mer

ald

isla

ndhe

alw

ays

com

es b

ack 

      

  gro

ggily

gro

ggily

  Com

es b

ack

to s

ands

of a

gre

y m

etal

lic s

oar

      

      

      

      

     t

o su

rge

of w

heel

sto

dul

l Nor

th C

ircul

ar ro

ar

muf

fling

muf

fling

his

crum

pled

pill

ow w

aves

isla

nd m

an h

eave

s hi

mse

lf  A

noth

er L

ondo

n da

y  G

race

Nic

hols

The shape of the

poem looks like the

skyline of a city.

Island Man

(for a Caribbean island man in London who still wakesup to the sound of the sea)

Morningand island man wakes upto the sound of blue surfin his headthe steady breaking and wombing

wild seabirdsand fishermen pushing out to seathe sun surfacing defiantlyfrom the eastof his small emerald islandhe always comes back         groggily groggily  Comes back to sandsof a grey metallic soar                             to surge of wheelsto dull North Circular roar

muffling mufflinghis crumpled pillow wavesisland man heaves himself  Another London day  Grace Nichols

CaribbeanDream?

LondonReality?

The poem is split into two parts. They

are split by the line “groggily

groggily”.

The first part is about the

Caribbean and the Island

Man’s dream.

The second part is about

his life in London, it is

reality.

Morningand island man wakes upto the sound of blue surfin his headthe steady breaking and wombing The man

has been dreaming

about his life in the

Caribbean.

Wombing is a word

associated with

motherhood. He feels like a belongs in

the Caribbean.

wild seabirdsand fishermen pushing out to seathe sun surfacing defiantlyfrom the eastof his small emerald islandhe always comes back         groggily groggily

The word “emerald” suggests that the

island is precious. It is very important to

the island man.

Nichols uses very natural images to describe the island.

he always comes back         groggily groggily

The line “groggily groggily” is set off to one side. This suggests

that the man is waking up and

moving from one location to another.

Comes back to sandsof a grey metallic soar                             to surge of wheelsto dull North Circular roar

Nichols uses w

ords

associated with nature

to describe the city

.

London is described as “grey”. This suggests it is dull and contrasts the island which is described as “blue”

and “emerald”.

muffling mufflinghis crumpled pillow wavesisland man heaves himself  Another London day

The word “heaves” suggests that the man is finding it difficult to get out of bed.

The last line of the poem is on its own. This suggests that the island man feels

isolated in London.

The capital letters show the formality of London

compared to the Caribbean.

The word “another” shows his life his repetitive and

boring.