The Full Text of “Hurricane Hits England”
The Full Text of “Hurricane Hits England”
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“Hurricane Hits England” Introduction
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“Hurricane Hits England” was written by the poet Grace Nichols, who was born in Guyana and moved to England in 1977. The poem’s speaker, who can be read as a representation of Nichols herself, is an immigrant living in England. When a hurricane hits the English coast, the speaker wonders why this familiar feature of her childhood in the West Indies has followed her to such a vastly different landscape. Ultimately, the hurricane brings the speaker to a new sense of home and identity, as she comes to understand that “the earth is the earth is the earth.” Nichols first published the poem in her 1996 collection titled Sunris.
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“Hurricane Hits England” Summary
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The speaker says that a hurricane was the one thing that helped her feel more connected to her new country. She was up for half the night listening to the whistling wind of the storm, which was like a huge ship. As the wind built up strength and power, it was like some dark ghost of her ancestors, at once frightening and comforting in its familiarity.
The speaker tells Huracan, god of storms, to talk to her. She tells Oya, god of wind, lightning, death, and rebirth, to talk to her. She tells Shango, god of thunder, to talk to her. She calls out to Hurricane Hattie, whom she refers to as a cousin that swept across her homeland.
The speaker asks why these gods are visiting the coast of England. She wonders what it means to hear old languages causing mayhem in new lands.
She wonders about the meaning of the storm's lightning, with its blinding brightness, even as it shuts off England's electricity and makes the world around the speaker even darker.
She wonders what it means that trees are falling over in the wind, as heavy as whales, their roots covered in crusty bark, making giant holes in the land like graves.
The speaker wonders why her heart has been set free. She declares her allegiance to the tropical weather gods, following the movement of their winds and following their mysterious storm.
The sweet mystery of the storm has arrived to break the speaker's frozen inner self, to shake up the roots of the trees within her. It has come to let me the speaker know that the earth is always the same earth, wherever she goes.
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“Hurricane Hits England” Themes
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Home and the Natural World
“Hurricane Hits England” evokes the homesickness and disconnection people can feel while living in new, unfamiliar landscapes. The poem’s speaker (whom many people take to be a representation of the poet, Grace Nichols) is an immigrant living in England. The speaker is surprised when a hurricane, a familiar feature of her childhood in the West Indies, arrives at the English coast. At first, the hurricane seems to make the speaker homesick. Ultimately, though, the hurricane helps the speaker feel newly connected to England, as she finds comfort in the knowledge that the natural gods of her homeland exist even in this unfamiliar place. “The earth is the earth is the earth,” the speaker concludes, suggesting that people remain connected to the natural world, and thus to their homelands, wherever they go.
The speaker acknowledges that, until the arrival of the hurricane, she felt alienated from her surroundings. She says that it “took a hurricane” to help her feel “closer / To the landscape,” implying that up to this point, she has felt distanced from England—a place with vastly different climate and terrain (and, of course, culture) than the Caribbean.
And when the hurricane first arrives, it seems to make the speaker acutely aware of her longing for her home: she asks the hurricane to “[t]alk to [her],” and it makes her think of her “cousin” Hattie—the name of a massive hurricane that hit the Caribbean in 1961. Ferocious as it may be, the hurricane is also something comforting and familiar to the speaker in that it offers her a sense of connection with the world she came from.
At the same time, the hurricane makes the speaker feel like a piece of that world exists even in England. The speaker feels freed upon the storm’s arrival, declaring that she is now “unchained” and “following the movement of [its] winds.” The hurricane isn’t tethered to one place, which seems to make the speaker realize that home itself doesn’t have to be static, unmoving, or anchored; it can travel with, and within, the speaker.
The speaker thus describes the hurricane as “break[ing] the frozen lake in [her]” and “[s]haking” the “trees / Within her.” If the “frozen lake” represents the speaker’s disconnection from her new landscape, then this encounter with hurricane has helped to break that ice—to help her feel a deep connection to the entire earth, of which England is also a part. The poem suggests, then, that nature can both remind people of their homes, and offer them home in the earth itself.
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-37
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Immigrant Identity and Belonging
While the poem explores the relationship between the natural world and home, it also explores the complex ways that immigrants may struggle with their sense of identity in a new country. The hurricane can be read as a representation of the speaker’s Caribbean heritage, and the poem seems to suggest, at first, the speaker feels that these aspects of her identity have no place in England. Ultimately, though, the poem suggests that the speaker’s Caribbean roots are a crucial part of her identity that she carries with her wherever she goes. In fact, the poem implies that it is only by affirming these aspects of their identity that immigrants can find a true sense of belonging.
When the speaker describes the hurricane, she is also talking about herself: the hurricane represents the speaker’s Caribbean heritage. Yet at first, the speaker questions what the hurricane is doing in England. By extension, she seems to question what she is doing in England and whether these aspects of her identity have any place there.
The speaker compares the hurricane to “old tongues,” suggesting that the hurricane represents her “old tongue,” or the languages of her country of birth. And indeed, the hurricane prompts the speaker to address it in Yoruba with such words as “Oya” and “Shango.” The speaker also refers to Hurricane Hattie, a real hurricane from 1961, as her “back-home cousin,” implying that such storms are part of her family, roots, and heritage.
Yet the speaker describes the hurricane, at first, as causing “havoc” or chaos, and questions what it is doing there. In other words, the speaker questions what place these parts of her identity could have in England; she seems to feel that such reminders of her former home could destabilize her life in this new one.
Ultimately, though, the speaker affirms the place that both the hurricane and she have in England. While the speaker says that the hurricane is “[f]earful,” she also says it is “reassuring”: feeling connected to her roots is comforting. And the fact that the hurricane has shaken up the speaker’s life seems to be a good thing: as the speaker is confronted with certain parts of her identity, she says that her heart has been “unchained.” By declaring her allegiance to the storm—by reclaiming her roots, language, and heritage—the speaker has found a sense of freedom and liberation.
The speaker also asserts that it “took a hurricane” to “bring her closer / To the landscape” of her new country. The poem suggests, then, that by embracing those parts of her identity that seemed not to belong, the speaker can finally feel “closer” to this new place. The speaker seems to recognize that she is who she is wherever she is, and thus finds a sense of belonging in herself.
As the poem describes the speaker’s experience of the hurricane, then, it also describes her reckoning with her own identity. The poem implies that for the speaker, reclaiming those aspects of her identity that seem not to belong is a crucial part of finding belonging.
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-37
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Hurricane Hits England”
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Lines 1-2
It took a ...
... To the landscapeThe title, “Hurricane Hits England,” lets the reader know that the poem will describe a hurricane that unexpectedly arrives off the English coast. Hurricanes and other tropical storms are familiar features of the Caribbean (where the poet and, readers can reasonably assume, the speaker of the poem, is from), but are very rare in England.
The speaker says that it took this hurricane-like storm to help her feel closer to the English “landscape.” In other words, the speaker has felt alienated from the English landscape up to this point, and the hurricane—a reminder of the speaker's homeland—helps her feel more connected to her new country.
These opening lines are filled with crisp consonance that adds intensity to the speaker's language: note the sharp /k/ sounds of "took," "hurricane," "closer," and "landscape."
Also note how, in this opening stanza of the poem, the speaker refers to herself in the third person, as “her” and “she.” This third-person point of view suggests that the speaker is still somewhat alienated from herself and her surroundings; she describes herself as though from the outside. As the storm unfolds over the course of the poem, though, this point of view will shift, demonstrating the sense of belonging and self-identity that the speaker finds through the storm.
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Lines 3-7
Half the night ...
... Fearful and reassuring: -
Lines 8-12
Talk to me ...
... sweeping, back-home cousin. -
Lines 13-18
Tell me why ...
... In new places? -
Lines 19-22
The blinding illumination, ...
... Into further darkness? -
Lines 23-26
What is the ...
... Their cratered graves? -
Lines 27-31
O why is ...
... of your storm. -
Lines 32-37
Ah, sweet mystery, ...
... is the earth.
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“Hurricane Hits England” Symbols
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The Hurricane
The most important symbol in the poem is the hurricane itself. Hurricanes and storms often symbolize powerful change and transformation, and they can also represent struggle and conflict.
The hurricane in the poem builds on all these associations. When the storm unexpectedly arrives in England, it seems to transform the entire landscape, and its disruptive power reflects the speaker's internal reckoning with her identity. At first, the speaker suggests that the “old tongues” or old languages of the hurricane—and by extension, her old languages, ancestry, and heritage—would only cause “havoc” or chaos in this “new place[].” Yet ultimately, the speaker comes to embrace the hurricane and the "havoc" it causes. That chaos allows her to reconsider her place in the world. Just as the storm upends giant trees, it upends the speaker's understanding of both home and herself.
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 1-37
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Light and Darkness
Light often symbolizes inner awakening, understanding, consciousness, and hope. Darkness, by contrast, often symbolizes a state of despair or confusion. Part of the hurricane’s mystery is that it can bring about both at once: it creates a state of darkness and confusion, but also a new kind of understanding and “light” for the speaker.
The storm literally cuts off the electrical power, plunging the speaker and others into “further darkness.” This suggests that the storm is profoundly destabilizing for the speaker, bringing a sense of mystery and confusion. At the same time, the speaker emphasizes the storm’s “blinding illumination,” conjuring an image of incredibly bright lighting. Symbolically, this suggests that the storm has illuminated something for the speaker—that she's had a sort of lightbulb moment and now understands that "the eart is the earth."
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Line 19: “blinding illumination”
- Line 22: “further darkness”
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The Frozen Lake
The “frozen lake” in the poem symbolizes the speaker’s past sense of disconnection and alienation from England—and from herself. Ice is a traditional symbol of emotional coldness or a lack of connection. (And, of course, ice and frozen lakes are far more common in an English landscape than in that of the Caribbean.)
When the speaker praises the hurricane for “break[ing] the frozen lake in [her],” then, this is also symbolic. The speaker suggests that the hurricane has restored the speaker to herself and to her own life. By breaking the ice of her alienation, the hurricane has allowed the speaker to reconnect to herself and the world around her.
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Line 33: “the frozen lake”
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Trees and Roots
Trees and roots symbolize ancestry and belonging. For example, when someone refers to their “roots” they are usually referring to their family and home—where they come from.
In the poem, the speaker emphasizes the way the hurricane shakes the trees and even uproots them. She describes this happening both externally, in the heavy trees that are uprooted and fall to the ground, and internally, when she says the storm has shaken the trees in her to their “foundations.”
Drawing on the symbolic meanings of trees, this suggests that the hurricane has shaken the speaker’s sense of her roots and belonging. At the same time, this shaking up is a good thing: the speaker realizes that she doesn't need to be physically rooted in her home to feel a deep connection to it; she realizes that she can maintain this sense of self, wherever she is.
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 23-26: “What is the meaning of trees / Falling heavy as whales / Their crusted roots / Their cratered graves?”
- Lines 34-35: “Shaking the foundations of the very trees / within me,”
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“Hurricane Hits England” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Apostrophe
Throughout much of the poem, the speaker addresses the hurricane directly. She also addresses various gods of weather and storms (Huracan, Oya, and Shango), implying that these gods are present within the storm. Since the hurricane can’t be expected to reply to the speaker, this direct address is an example of apostrophe.
This apostrophe creates a sense of intimacy and familiarity between the speaker and the storm. Even if the hurricane doesn’t literally reply, the poem suggests that the speaker and the storm are communicating in some way. She feels like she knows this hurricane; while it seems out of place in England, it's a reminder of the world the speaker came from. (In fact, she even calls Hurricane Hattie, a reference to a real-world storm, her "cousin.")
As she addresses the hurricane, the speaker also asks it several rhetorical questions. These rhetorical questions help to illustrate the speaker’s own inner struggle over the course of the storm. At first, she asks what the storm is doing in England, implying that she is also asking what she is doing in England, and suggesting that neither can truly belong. Ultimately, though, the speaker’s questions change. She finally asks why her “heart” has been “unchained” by the storm, suggesting that the storm has set her free.
Where apostrophe appears in the poem:- Lines 8-37
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Allusion
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Simile
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Metaphor
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Personification
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Imagery
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Anaphora
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Repetition
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Alliteration
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Consonance
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Assonance
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"Hurricane Hits England" Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Ancestral spectre
- Huracan, Oya, and Shango
- Hattie
- Old tongues
- Reaping havoc
- Illumination
- Short-circuit
- Cratered
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(Location in poem: Line 6: “Like some dark ancestral spectre,”)
"Ancestral" means something that has to do with one's ancestors. A "spectre" is a ghost. The speaker means, then, that the hurricane is like a ghost of her ancestors.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Hurricane Hits England”
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Form
"Hurricane Hits England" has 37 lines broken up into seven stanzas of varying length. The first stanza is the longest (at seven lines) and the rest of the stanzas range from four lines to six lines each.
Beyond that, there's no standard or predictable form to the poem, which instead feels fluid and organic. A tightly woven structure would probably feel too stiff for a poem about the "havoc" and chaos of a powerful storm! The poem’s formal variation also helps to create an immediate, spoken, quality, as though the speaker is addressing the reader—and the hurricane itself—directly.
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Meter
“Hurricane Hits England” is a free verse poem, meaning that it has no set meter. Instead, the rhythm of the poem is natural and unpredictable, evoking the wildness and unpredictability of the storm itself. The lack of a strict meter also makes the poem sound immediate and intimate. This makes sense, given that the speaker feels connected to the hurricane—like she's talking to her ancestors or a relative from "back-home."
At the same time, the poem does have some distinctly rhythmic moments that create momentum and emphasis. For example, the anaphoric repetition of “Talk to me” in stanza two and “I am” in stanza 6 create a distinct, powerful rhythm. This rhythm propels the poem forward, demonstrating the hurricane’s energy.
The last line of the poem also has a steady rhythm. The repetition in this line makes for an insistent pattern of anapests (poetic feet with a da-da-DUM rhythm):
That the earth is the earth is the earth.
These stresses emphasize the speaker’s declaration, calling attention to the fact that the earth is the earth—no matter where on it she is.
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Rhyme Scheme
As a free verse poem, “Hurricane Hits England” has no set rhyme scheme. As with its lack of meter, this lack of a steady rhyme scheme keeps the poem feeling unpredictable, natural, and organic. This feeling, in turn, helps to communicate the wild, untamed movements of the hurricane. The speaker embraces the freedom of the storm, and seems to be “following the movement” of the hurricane within the poem itself.
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“Hurricane Hits England” Speaker
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The poem's speaker is someone who is living in England but who is from the West Indies (a place with much more frequent hurricanes). This person sees the hurricane coming to England as a sign of her own heritage and ancestors reaching her even in this distant, unfamiliar place. While she at first feels disconnected from the English "landscape," the arrival of this storm helps her feel more at ease in her current surroundings.
Many readers take the speaker of the poem to be a representation of the poet, Grace Nichols, who was born in Guyana but moved to England in 1977. That said, the poem's exploration of identity, belonging, and homesickness will likely be familiar to many immigrants.
Also note how the speaker's relationship to herself shifts throughout the poem. At the beginning of the poem, the speaker refers to herself using third-person pronouns ("she" and "her"), implying that she has felt alienated from herself. Once she begins addressing the hurricane, however, she shifts into first-person pronouns ("me" and "I"). The hurricane reminds the speaker of her homeland and who she is, and the poem ends with the sense that the speaker feels more at ease in her identity.
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“Hurricane Hits England” Setting
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The poem is set in England during a powerful hurricane. (Contextual clues suggest that the poem is set during the Great Storm, an extremely strong cyclone that hit the coast of the UK and France in October of 1987.)
The poem highlights the immense power of the storm through its imagery of heavy trees being uprooted and the power going out. The storm seems to take over the entire landscape and transform it: for example, the trees become whale-like and the wind “howl[s]” like a “ship” on the open sea.
Hurricanes are familiar features of the West Indies, where the poet was born, but highly unusual in the UK. Even though England is thousands of miles away from the West Indies, then, the hurricane seems to bring a part of that world to this new place. The arrival of the storm makes the speaker feel more connected to both her homeland and to the earth itself.
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Literary and Historical Context of “Hurricane Hits England”
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Literary Context
Grace Nichols first published “Hurricane Hits England” in her 1996 poetry collection Sunris, which won the Guyana Poetry Prize. Prior to this collection, Nichols had already published numerous well-known books, including the poetry collections I is a Long-Memoried Woman (1983), which won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, and The Fat Black Woman’s Poems (1984). Her 1986 novel, Whole of a Morning Sky, explores Guyana’s struggle for independence from England. More recent books include Picasso, I Want My Face Back (2009), and Passport to Here and There (2020), as well as poetry collections for children.
Nichols was born in Guyana, and Caribbean culture, folklore, and oral traditions inform her work. Like "Hurricane Hits England," a number of her other poems (such as “Island Man”) explore experiences of Caribbean immigrants living in the UK. When she moved to England in 1977, Nichols was part of a generation of West Indian poets whose work explored race, culture, and belonging at a time of intense xenophobia in the UK. Other poets of this movement include John Agard (to whom Nichols is married) and Linton Kwesi Johnson.
Today, Nichols is recognized as a major English poet. When former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy created a poetry contest in UK schools, Nichols led the first panel of judges. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in the UK in 2007, and her work is taught in British schools as part of the English Literature IGCSE anthologies.
Historical Context
Two layers of historical context are important to the poem. First, contextual clues suggest that the poem refers to an actual storm that hit the coast of England and France in October 1987. This event, known as the Great Storm, was destructive and deadly. Although the Great Storm wasn’t technically a hurricane (the term “hurricane” refers to cyclones in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans), it had hurricane-force winds reaching as high as 137 miles per hour and caused immense damage throughout the UK and France. Storms of this kind are extremely unusual in England, but familiar features of the Caribbean.
The larger backdrop to the poem is that of British colonialism and slavery in the West Indies, and of Caribbean migration to the UK. Guyana (where Grace Nichols was born) was colonized by various European nations and under British rule until 1966. When Britain colonized the Caribbean, they forcibly brought over and enslaved three million Africans to work the region. Many of these enslaved people came from West Africa, and their Yoruba culture and language—including the natural Orishas or gods to whom the speaker alludes in the poem—remain crucial parts of some West Indian cultures.
Between 1948 and 1971, a wave of Caribbean immigrants came to England, partly due to a labor shortage in the UK following the Second World War. Known as the Windrush generation, these immigrants played a major role in rebuilding England after World War II.
Although Nichols herself came to England slightly later (in 1977), the poem can be read within the larger context of the Caribbean diaspora who emigrated from former British colonies to the United Kingdom. The speaker of the poem explores questions of home, belonging, and identity recognizable to many immigrants, including many of the poet’s generation.
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More “Hurricane Hits England” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poem Out Loud — Listen to Grace Nichols read “Hurricane Hits England,” along with several other of her poems, at the Poetry Archive of the English Arts Council. This website also includes a brief biography of Nichols.
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Biography of Grace Nichols — Learn more about the poet's life and work in this biographical article from the British Council. This page also includes a bibliography of Nicholss’ books and a critical essay on her work.
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An Interview with Grace Nichols — Read this interview with Grace Nichols, along with interviews with other leading Black poets in the UK, about race, justice, and "the power of poetry."
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The Great Storm — Read about the Great Storm, the cyclone that hit the English coast in 1987 and inspired this poem.
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Caribbean Immigration to the UK — Learn more about Caribbean immigration to the UK, particularly in the period following World War II. This article also explores how Caribbean immigrants played a major role in rebuilding England after the war.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Grace Nichols
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