Orkney Interior Poem Analysis

Both poems, 'Orkney Interior’ by Ian Hamilton Finlay and 'The House ' by Sweeney investigate the components of an unusual and dreamlike atmosphere by utilizing subjects of surrealism, destiny and issue. Finlay uses elements of an island to describe the landscape, in order to highlight the routine he is trapped in and Sweeney uses many techniques including tone, specific choice of words/diction in order to make this poem compelling and erect a weird atmosphere.
The theme of solitude/isolation is scrutinized in both poems. In ‘The House’, the speaker does not define the place he lived in as a ‘home’ but refers to it as ‘The House’, which distances him from the house, stressing on the fact that he did not feel like he belonged there. Even in the last two lines, where he is truly positive, he alludes to the house as 'it ', stressing the fact that he felt no association with it. The relationship established

In 'Orkney Interior ', despite the fact that the speaker does not express that he is alone, he has all the earmarks of being in this way, as there is by no account human vicinity. The environment described seems to be dancing between the reality and fiction, like a dream. The poem looks like a dream of the old man, changing the environment very quickly and the transformations of the environment seem to grow out of the old man’s solitude. Contributing to the general feeling of isolation, the phrase ‘With inexplicable and pallid blanks’ it may propose the idea that the persona has been removed from a familiar environment and put some place he doesn 't generally comprehend the culture. However, this ‘old man’ translates island phenomena into his own surreal logic, creating a dreamlike atmosphere: he does ‘what the moon says’; his calendar is ‘almost like a zodiac’; and his ‘adapted cuckoo-clock… shows no hours, only tides and moons’. Solitude, throughout this poem, is expressed in a positive light with the use of surreal images that manipulate the concept of