PRE-READING 1. Do certain places retain a sense of the things that have happened there?


2. Imagine you had the opportunity to buy your dream home, but you discover that a murder happened there. Would you go ahead with the purchase? Why or why not?


3. Will human beings ever be able to live at peace and rid the world of violence for good? If so, how? If not, why not?


COMPREHENDING AND RESPONDING


1.  2. Why do you think the wind is described as ‘metaphysical’?


3. Is there a sense in which the word ‘sanctuary’ is used ironically in stanza two, do you think? Explain your answer.


4. Why might the seabirds be amazed? Give a reason for your answer.


5.  Make a list of the words and phrases he uses. How is this concept of sleep used in the poem?


6. What do you think is meant by ‘here they are through with history’? 7.  8. Discuss the effect of the image contained in lines 19 and 20.


9. In stanza three, the sounds mentioned in stanza one make a reappearance. What is the effect of this, do you think?


10. In what senses might the speaker and his companions be ‘ Spray -blind’?


11. Do you think there is any symbolism in the depiction of the sea as ‘turbulent’ (stanza two) with ‘pitching surfaces’ (stanza three)?


12. Suggest an interpretation of the last line of the poem.


13. The poet seems to be making a connection between the historical events on Rathlin Island and the ‘ Bombs’ in modern-day housing estates. What do you think this connection is? Explain your answer.


14.  other Mahon poems you have studied.


CREATING


1. The National Trust of Northern Ireland wish es to promote Rathlin Island as a tourist destination. Write the text of a 


 describing the natural beauty of


Rathlin Island, its many species of seabirds and its impressive landscape and sea 


2. Write the journal entry of one of the English soldiers for 26 July 1575, after having carried out your orders against the defenders of Rathlin Island the previous day.


3. You have been given the opportunity to interview Derek Mahon about ‘Rathlin’ for your school newspaper. Write the text of the interview the answers you think he would give) in dialogue format.


 VERSE 2025


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