He speaks of colonial policy in Africa and of historical events, and he speaks of both the Kikuyu and the English however, at the end of the poem, he narrows the larger focus to make a strong and challenging personal connection. In the following poem, “A Far Cry From Africa,” Walcott additionally explores his cultural heritage from both the British colonizers and the African people forcibly brought to the Caribbean by European colonial powers for enslavement, separated from people remaining in Africa who were fighting the effects of colonialism in their homelands. Then, like a light at the end of a tunnel, Where are your monuments, your battles, martyrs? He also makes strong comparisons to the flight of Jews in the Bible (Exodus) seeking the Promised Land. He suggests that much of the history of this time is locked in the sea, “in that grey vault,” and in the lost lives of African people who died aboard slave ships or drowned during the Middle Passage. In this excerpt from the poem “The Sea is History”, Walcott explores Caribbean history in relation to African history by delving into the details and horrors of the Middle Passage and the beginnings of enslavement. Additionally, Walcott’s poetry often spans across different times, places, and events to show the often complex connections between cultures and peoples in the Caribbean. He sometimes includes a mix of languages, from English to Caribbean patois to French. PoetryĬommon themes in Derek Walcott’s works include a focus on Caribbean culture and history, the effects of colonialism, and one’s relationship to language. Many view his greatest accomplishment to date as his receiving of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992. He also spent time instructing as a professor of literature at Boston University. After this, Walcott spent much of his time traveling the world and becoming a culturist for Caribbean literature and life. It would be this complex that would manufacture a majority of his plays.
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After living in Trinidad for about six years, Walcott established the Trinidad Theatre Workshop. His first major literary achievement would come at the age of 18, when he borrowed money from his mother and self-published 25 Poems (1948) and Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949). This passion for art lead him to move to Trinidad in 1953 to take on a job as a theatre and art critic. Mary’s college, located on the very island he was raised, and the University of the West Indies proved to be inspiring for him as an artist. Walcott’s education was the spark of his career in the arts.
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Being raised in the Caribbean also had a significant impact on the poetry he would go on to write, as well as his life in general. His mother was involved in leading the local Methodist church, but the family felt overshadowed by the predominantly Catholic culture of the island. In particular, Walcott’s grandmothers had lived through the era of slavery, and the topic of slavery would be something he touched on multiple times in his works. A select few of these hardships became inspiration and material, for some of his poems. Throughout the early stages of his life, Walcott learned of, harsh situations his family members faced, and went through a few himself. His mother was a teacher who had a love of the arts and she would often recite poetry to her children. His father, a civil servant who painted and wrote poetry, died when Derek and his twin brother were one year old.Ĭonsequently,Walcott never knew his father except for the stories his family told of him. Derek Walcott is a twentieth-century poet, who was born on the island of Saint Lucia, in the Lesser Antilles, on January 23, 1930.