1. Island Man by Grace Nichols
Different Cultures – Cluster 1

2. Grace Nichols Born Georgetown, Guyana (Caribbean) 1950
Lived in UK since 1977
Poet and writer of children’s books

3. Island Man by Grace Nichols
A man from a Caribbean island now lives and works in London. The poem shows his state of mind in the early morning.
He wakes with the sound of the sea in his head, then prepares himself for the reality of his day’s work.

5. rhythms which suggest the movements of the sea
Island Man Lines 1 - 5
rhythms which suggest the movements of the sea
Morning
and island man wakes up
to the sound of blue surf
in his head
the steady breaking and wombing
The sea is the source (the womb) of all life on earth

6. Repetitions contribute to the hypnotic rhythm
Island man Lines
wild seabirds
and fishermen pushing out to sea
the sun surfacing defiantly
from the east
of his small emerald island
he always comes back
groggily groggily
S and f sounds suggest the sounds of the sea (alliteration / onomatopoeia)
Repetitions contribute to the hypnotic rhythm

7. Island man Lines 12 - 15 Comes back to sands of a grey metallic soar
to surge of wheels
to dull North Circular roar
Is the traffic sound “soaring” (increasing in volume) ?

8. What do these lines mean and how do they relate to others ?
Island man Lines
What do these lines mean and how do they relate to others ?
muffling muffling
his crumpled pillow waves
island man heaves himself
Alliteration suggestive of laboured breathing

9. London days are all the same: dull, repetitive, mechanical
Island man Line 19
Another London day
London days are all the same: dull, repetitive, mechanical

10. Island Man by Grace Nichols
Lines 1 – 5 The man wakes up and in his head hears the surf
Lines 6 – 11 He hears other sea sounds and sees the sun rise, then starts to realise where he is
Lines 12 – 15 The sounds change to London traffic sounds
Lines 16 – 18 He struggles out of bed...
Line to face another day in London

11. Island Man by Grace Nichols
The poem covers only a few minutes in the early morning. It describes the first part of a man’s day as he comes to consciousness. The man is not identified except as a stereotype “island man”. He is a West Indian, living in London.
He wakes with the sound of the Caribbean sea in his head (“the sound of blue surf”). Other sea sounds develop (“wild seabirds and fishermen”) and he imagines the sun rising. His head begins to clear (“groggily groggily”).
The sea sounds transform into metallic traffic sounds; sand transforms into road surface; blue and emerald turn to grey.
The only waves are in his crumpled pillow as he “heaves himself” up to prepare for “Another London day”.

13. How “Island Man” is written: 1. Shape and sense
19 lines of different lengths
5 sections of different lengths
No punctuation apart from 3 sections beginning with capital letters
Lines are often, but not always, complete phrases, units of sense
Sometimes the relationship between lines is ambiguous
One line (l.11) is unusually broken

14. How “Island Man” is written: 2. Language
Much of the poem has rhythms which suggest the movement of the sea, with some long movements and some short, rather gentle and hypnotic.
Repetitions contribute to the rhythms (comes back/comes back; groggily/ groggily; muffling/muffling) and suggest the hypnotic effects of the sea’s movement.
Alliteration is used (sound/surf; seabirds/sea/ sun). In the first half of the poem, sequences of s and f sounds suggest sea sounds.
There are only 2 rhymes (soar/roar; sea/defiantly), which seem accidental or natural rhymes.
There is some use of colour (blue/emerald/grey) to contrast the brightness of the Caribbean with the dullness of London.
There are some unusual uses of words (l.5 wombing; l.13 soar).
The absence of punctuation (and of finite verbs) makes some word sequences ambiguous, particularly l and perhaps l.6-11.

15. Island Man: questions to consider
What contrasts are suggested between the man’s life on a Caribbean island and his life in London ?
Why is he living in London ?
Why does he remember his home island so vividly ?

17. Comparisons with themes from other poems
Separation from one’s homeland
(compare Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan
Hurricane Hits England)
Living in a different culture
(compare Search for My Tongue
Unrelated Incidents
Half Caste)
Village life
(compare Blessing
Night of the Scorpion)