Braving the Elements
While it's fair to say that there are many Seamus Heaney poems that celebrate nature (check out "Blackberry Picking" and "Digging" for just two), it would be a mistake to say that they did so in a warm and fuzzy way. Heaney is sure not to misrepresent Mother Nature by making her out to be a softie.
Many of his poems take place in his native Ireland and they give an accurate depiction of how harsh the elements can actually be. But rather than whine about how bleak the weather is, or how hard the land can be for farming, Heaney focuses on how natural elements come to shape the identity of a group of people. "Storm on the Island" is a great example of this. While the people in the poem seem to be at odds with nature at the moment, you get the sense that they are stronger for the struggles that nature presents them. They better be. This poem shows us that the natural world has us surrounded, so we better get used to putting up with it.