The Poem Storm Warnings
In the poem, "Storm Warnings" the organization is very important to the fluency of the poem. In the very first line the reader starts to get a feeling of the literal meaning of the work. In saying, "The glass has been falling all the afternoon" one learns that a barometer is falling, hence bad weather is on its way. The allegory, symbolic representation, that "glass" is a barometer is because later in the poem, the words "instruments and weatherglasses" are used. The poets tone, the general atmosphere is dim and gloomy but one gets the feeling that the poem isn't about the storm but living through it. In the first stanza the reader understands that a storm is approaching, "gray unrest is moving across the land" and windows are boarded up to protect them from the forthcoming conditions. As the reader moves toward the second stanza, they understand that the storm is going to come as it has in the past, regardless of its prediction, but the metaphorical meaning starts to emerge. Time is cyclical as is the weather. In the third stanza the reader gets the impression that even if a storm or foul weather is predicted, one can only prepare for it, they can't change it. "The wind will rise, We can only close the shutters." Basically the storm will come and there is nothing anyone can do except plan for it. In the final stanza it appears that they have prepared for the storm; the windows have been shut, the curtains drawn, and the candles lit. "These are the things that we have learned to do Who live in troubled regions." In the last two lines of the poem, one understands that people have to adjust the way they live, especially in times of trouble. The metaphorical meaning in "Storm Warnings" is time/events. People try to predict the weather with instruments, the barometer, the same way that they try to predict events. People can do their best to prepare and take steps to deal with the expected event but then have to live with what life really hands them.