Exposure:
"The merciless iced east winds that knive us" — nature is personified and seems to be attacking the men. The use of merciless and knive us is unexpected as we expect the fight to be between soldiers and not weather.
"Dawn massing in the east her melancholy army" — dawn is personified using the language of the battle. This is gathering an army with bad weather.
"Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence" — sibilance here mimics the whistling sound of bullets flying. Bullets are rain. The harsh sound of S and T link with gunfire and therefore conflict pain.
"Flowing flakes that flock" — alliteration here emphasises the relentless of the snow. The repetition of the F sound highlights the cold blanketing of the snow.
"Fake flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces" — personification- they're maliciously seeking the men's faces. This is silent and sneaky.
"All their eyes are ice" —metaphor refers to they eyes of the living and dead men. It's a vivid description of how they've been overpowered by nature. It hints that the living men are no longer able to feel any emotion.
The prelude:
"Heaving through the water like a swan" — the natural simile shows that he's confident and in control which enhances the contrast in the next line of the poem.
"Growing still in statue the grim shape" — as the narrator rows away from the mountain more and more of it comes into view. This means it seems like the mountain is getting bigger and makes it sound like a nightmare.
"The horizon's bound, a huge peak, black and huge." — A mountain appears on the horizon. The language is very different now as it becomes darker and more threatening.
"Measured motion like a living things" — the mountain is calm, powerful and in control. This contrasts with the narrations fear.
Storm On The Island:
"Exploding comfortably" — this is an oxymoron and the contrast between the feelings of fear and safety.
"Spits like a tame cat turned savage" — this simile shows how familiar things become frightening during the storm.
"Pummels" — this is a violent verb to describe the wind.
"Bombarded" — typical language associated with war. The wind is compared to a fighter plane attacking the island.
"It's a huge nothing that we fear" — the storm is invincible. There's nothing solid there. This contrasts with the solid rock mentioned in the second line of the poem.
