Collected Poems, 1948-1984 by Derek Walcott
**Overview of Collected Poems, 1948-1984 by Derek Walcott**
"Collected Poems, 1948-1984" is a comprehensive anthology that compiles 132 poems from the varied works of Derek Walcott, spanning a period of over three decades. The collection draws from nine of Walcott's earlier books, showcasing his development as a poet. Central to his work is the theme of travel, reflecting both a physical and metaphorical journey that engages with notions of identity, belonging, and cultural heritage. Through rich imagery of nature and the landscape, Walcott navigates complex political and historical narratives, often portraying the struggle of the individual in relation to their environment.
The poems frequently invoke classical myths alongside African and European influences, illustrating a dialogue between different cultural perspectives. Notable pieces such as "Prelude" and "A Far Cry from Africa" highlight the poet's introspection and quest for understanding amidst divided loyalties and a yearning for home. Nature serves as a backdrop that enhances the feelings of isolation and search for meaning, while also acting as a character in its own right. Ultimately, "Collected Poems, 1948-1984" offers readers an exploration of Walcott’s poetic voice, marked by a deep engagement with themes of history, myth, and the human condition, inviting reflection on the intricate interplay between culture and identity.
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Collected Poems, 1948-1984 by Derek Walcott
First published: 1986
The Work
Collected Poems, 1948-1984 is a selection of 132 poems from nine of Derek Walcott’s books: In a Green Night: Poems 1948-1960 (1962), Selected Poems (1964), The Castaway and Other Poems (1965), The Gulf and Other Poems (1970), Another Life (1973), Sea Grapes (1976), The Star-Apple Kingdom (1979), The Fortunate Traveller (1981), and Midsummer (1984).
To establish his poetic voice, Walcott began using the lens of classical myth along with European and African influences. The book’s images of wanderers, nature, and animals show a complex political and historical view across a thirty-six-year span of writing. The major connecting theme is the traveler.
The poem “Prelude,” from In a Green Night, presents the young poet and traveler sitting cross-legged over the “uncouth features” of his “prone island,” attempting to learn how to suffer “in accurate iambics.” The 1948 poem typifies Walcott’s major theme. The plaintive “A Far Cry from Africa” identifies Walcott as the traveler continuing his search by asking “Where shall I turn, divided to the vein?” The division to which Walcott alludes is characteristic of the poems in the opening of this collection, especially the bitter “Return to D’Ennery: Rain” that asks God “where is our home? For no one will save/ The world from itself.”
Nature images enhance the traveler theme in “The Banyan Tree, Old Year’s Night.” In the poem, the tree attempts to explain responsibility as what “age could not” identify and so remains “blank,” unable to “keep the homeless wind.” Hence, for Walcott, nature is an impotent environment and character appearing orphaned and alone, as is the traveler.
Collected Poems, 1948-1984 reflects not only themes of search and nature but also history and politics. Walcott explores what he calls “history as myth” and “history as time.” Working within myth and time oppositions, Walcott utilizes his classical education and multicultural background that some critics claim is a fault. The collection is, however, an honest and controlled answer to these people as its author moves gracefully from one cultural image to another.
Whatever the approach, as poems of search, nature, or cultural images, a wide variety of themes await the reader. The poems in the collection make complete the longing of the young poet in “Prelude” to the older, world-wise poet of “LII” from Midsummer who hears the younger artisan’s “iambics” that now are “marching the leaf-wet roads of my head.” The deconstructed world of diametrically opposed islanders shows the interior struggle of the poet with his themes: “one troop black, barefooted,/ the other in redcoats bright as their sovereign’s blood . . . the bare soles with the shod./ One fought for a queen, the other was chained in her service,/ but both, in bitterness, travelled the same road.”
Bibliography
Brown, Stewart, ed. The Art of Derek Walcott. Chester Springs, Pa.: Dufour Editions, 1991.
Hamner, Robert D., ed. Critical Perspectives on Derek Walcott. Washington, D.C.: Three Continents Press, 1993.
Hamner, Robert D. Derek Walcott. New York: Twayne, 1993.