Conclusion

I enjoyed the poems of Derek Walcott because the rich nature of the language used throughout his poems made it very essay to accept. Walcott said his writing was influenced by the work of the American poets, Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop, who were also friends. In the poem "A far cry from Africa" we see that 'Derek Walcott' not only is brilliant in explaining the imbalance relationship between the colonizer and the colonized but also depicts the pain of a man who stands in-between two cultures and at the end of the poem, he finally confesses his love for the English language as well as his origin. The "Ruins of the great house" tells us about the house which is not full of fond and happy memories, Instead he only tells us about how the house is like and the memories about slavery and colonisation.

Ruins Of a Great House : structure, tone, figures of speech

Meaning: Ruins of the Great House mainly are about the history, colonialism, literature and corruption through power. its a poem by Derek Walcott which was roughtly written between the years 1953-1954. The description of the ruined colonial mansion. He describe the great house using metaphors which show the ruins and death of the place that once used to be that lively place. There was growth of trees and plants that now have become lifeless. The house was used as a plantation for business of slavery in 19^th century.

The poet uses imagery so we can have a clear view of how the society may have been like from his perspective “grown in the silt that clogs the river’s skirt’ this can be the image of decay ad loss of energy.

Tone of the poem: expresses the poet’s feeling and attitudes.

Figures of speech:  Derek uses a metaphor, “I climbed a wall with a grill ironwork of exiled craftsmen, protecting that great house from guilt”

Structure: Ruins of the great house is a free verse poem, no set of rhyme scheme. The first ten lines are observation, image upon image as the speaker moves through the ruins.

There were many lines from the poem: Ruins of the great house

1. ‘Farewell green field,

     Farewell ye happy groves.’

          - Farewell, green fields and happy groves.

           William Blake, Night (from songs of innocence) 1789

2. Fallen from evil days, from evil times.

          More safe I sing with mortal voice, uchang’d

          To hoarse or mute, though fall’n o evil days,

           O evil days though fall’n, and evil tongues. In

           Darkness, and with dangers compassed round

          And solitude....

-          John Milton, paradise Lost, VII 23 1667

Ruins Of The Great House : summary

Ruins of a Great House

The poet is basically introduced to stones of disjecta membra (scattered fragments in Latin) of the great house, there lived in girls who perhaps moved around the lights at night like moth but now the part of the same dust that was lit by candles. There are lizards in the house that can sharpen the claws on the walls of the house.  Cherubs are winged unearthly creatures, from the bible. There are shrieking (crying) in pain from fear because they are stained with what is unsure but more like it is the stain of cruelties ad horrors. The three cows of evil doings are in the trees, whose braches creak as the heavy birds settle down.  The dead limes personifications bringing the image to life and the unpleasant smell gets right into the nose. The line 11 ad 12 is from Blake’s poem Night, which is good versus evil- the speaker suggests that when the empire is around you can say goodbye to freedom and happiness. Greece refers to the ancient culture that is no longer used; Faulkner had love/hate relationship with south which resonates with the speaker.  The poet begins with a slightly different tone focusing on another ruinous aspect of the house. A rash of trees suggests a not too healthy grouping, with dead leaves nearby. The limes as the fruits the plantation was created to produce- silt, fine rocks are now gathered at the river’s edge. The rivers flows refer to wipe off all thoughts of hurt. I climbed the wall- the speaker makes use of “I”, which he feels he is the part of the ruined landscape. The word rent refers-that the worm takes out something from the estate and cavalry is military in origin, as if the mice are running to rescue. The wind of the lime trees reminds him about the death of the empire. The poet is thinking about the situation he finds himself in the green law, with low walls.  The poets say that men come and go but rotten things they do remain. The idea of dead is intensifies, this time blown by the wind that disperses the ash and yet causes the mind’s ember to grow-burn as he thinks of Donne. The poet is angry as he says a slave in the lake of emotions affecting him must be intense as they compete more thoughts based on reasoning. At the end, there isn’t forgiveness but a kind of understanding, based on Donne’s idea that no man is an island and that death of every man affects everyone.

Work Cited:
https://commons.marymount.edu/ruinsofagreathouse/close-reading/

A Far Cry From Africa: Structure, Figures of Speech, Theme

The Title of the poem “A Far Cry From Africa” can maybe mean that the poet is writing about African subject from a distance. Writing from the island of St. Lucia, he feels that he is at a vast distance both literally and metaphorically from Africa.

Structure of the poem: A Far Cry From Africa

The Poem is written in free verse, which consists of two stanza one consisting of twenty one lines and the other with eleven lines. It has no rhyme scheme pattern. The poet makes use of rich figures of speech, which describes the poem: That the beginning simile, the poet compares the action of Kikuyu with flies, “Kikuyu, quick as flies”.  Violence is compared with natural law, as the poet views colonization no better than the law of jungle. The hysteric of the people in Africa is compared with that of beats, “delirious as beats.”
Figures of Speech

The use of metaphors can also be seen in this poem, “worm” for the British Colonizer. The poet use a ironic statement, such as “corpses are scattered through a paradise”, to describe the death and inhumanity that has occurred in both Africa and Europe.

Alliteration: “Batten upon the bloodstream”, “colonel on carrion cries”.

The poet uses repetition towards the end of the poem:

How can I face...?     How can I turn...?

The First three lines depict the poem’s Setting on the Africa plain or veldt. 

Theme
Split identity, isolation, cruelty, violence, religion and love are the major themes of the poem. Walcott belongs to both African and European roots ad he identifies himself as Mongrel. Walcott hybrid heritage prevents him from identifying himself directly with one culture and creates the sense isolation.

The Wind “ruffling the Tawny pelt of Africa” in the beginning of the poem refers to cruelty of Mau Mau uprising against the Violence of the British colonialism. The words “corpses, paradise, dead, Jews ad cursed” creates an atmosphere of religion in the poem. Walcott’s feeling of affection for Africa and fondness for English tongue is the theme of love.

Worked Cited:
https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/far-cry-africa

Quiz on Derek Walcott and his poem A far cry from africa

Quiz on Derek Walcott (Author)

1.       Derek Walcott is a native of what island nation in the carribean?

a)St. Lucia         b) Trinidad        c) St. Vincent

      2. When did Derek Walcott win the Noble prize for Literature?

     3. When was Derek Walcott born?

Quiz on the poem: A far from Africa

1. When was the poem ‘A far cry from Africa’ published?

a) 1951            b) 1952          c) 1961          d) 1962

2. What is the meaning of “A far cry”?

a) Impossible things              b) possible things            c) paradise           d) a and c

3. Which animal is compared to the nation?

a) Tiger             b) Lion             c) Kangaroo            d) Zebra

4. How many stanzas’ are there in the poem?

a) Three             b) four                c) two                  d) six

5. What is meant by Kikuyu in the poem?

A Far Cry From Africa- Summary

In this poem the poet describes how he rejects the British culture and colonial ideology which belongs to the post colonial poetry. The title of the poem seems to suggest according to me that the poet is writing about Africa from a distance when he says “A Far Cry from Africa.” writing from the island of St. Lucia in Africa the poet feels that he is at a vast distance from Africa.  Mainly the poet is talking about the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in the early 1950s between European setters and the native Kikuyu tribe in what is now the republic of Kenya. The Mau Mau Movement of Kenya was a nationalist armed peasant revolt against the British colonial, its politics, and its local supporters.

Summary of the Poem 

Para-1
The Nation itself is compared to an animal maybe lion with a “Tawny pelt.” Tawny is a light brown to brownish orange colour common colour of the African Landscape. The word “Kikuyu” refers to the native tribes in Kenya. The Kikuyu are seen as the flies battening on the bloodstreams and the blood is on the veldt. People were killed and their dead bodies were scattered like cattle on the beautiful land of Africa, seen as paradise. 
The poet personifies the worm by those who are already dead by asking a question, “What is the use of compassion for those already dead”? 
The words “justify” and “colonial policy” clarifies that Walcott is describing the Mau Mau uprising against the British colonists in Kenya during the 1950s. Where the speaker seemed to blame the victims, he now blamed those who forced the colonial system in Kenya and polarized the population.  They cannot justify their action because they will never matter to the “white child” who has been killed just due to his colour.
Para-2
 Walcott later comes back to pictures of Africa’s wildlife, in a reminder that the ibises (long-billed wading birds) and other beast ruled this land long before African and European Civilization existed.  The poet also talks about an old hunting customs of natives walking in a line through the long grass and beating it to flush out prey. He talks more about the love for nation and nationality.
Para-3
  He tried to clarify that he only wanted to be African but he also loved the English Tongue. He then presented British as a superman and the African as a gorilla who is one of the powerful animals even though, the Africa tried to fight with British, and their practice for their own existence went to vain.  Later on, he tells that things had been changed. The cultural transmission couldn’t be avoided. Even in him, there is a combination of two blood ad culture couldn’t be discarded. The lines, “I who am poisoned with the blood of both, where shall I turn, divided to the vein?”, also tells he could leave neither his African nationality nor English Tongue.

Work Cited:

Poem:

A Far Cry from Africa By Derek Walcott - Poems | Academy Of American Poets

https://poets.org/poem/far-cry-africa

https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/far-cry-africa

About Derek Walcott

Born on the island of Saint Lucia on 23^rd January 1930, a former British colony in the West Indies, poet and playwright Derek Walcott was trained as a painter but turned to writing as a young man. At the age of 14 he published his first poem in the local newspaper. About five years later, he had borrowed $200 for his first collection of 25 poems, distributed on the street corners. Walcott’s breakthrough came with the collection “In a Green Night: poems 1948-1960, the book which celebrated the Caribbean and history investigates the scars of colonisation. His collections had included Tiepolo’s Hound (2000), selected poems (2007), and morning, paramin (2016). Walcott won the Noble Prize in literature in 1992.

Since the 1950s Walcott divided the time between Boston, New York, and Saint Lucia. His work resonates with the western canon ad island influences, shifting between Caribbean patois and English.  He is known for his technical control, erudition, and large canvases. His work is conceived on an oceanic scale and one of its fundamental concerns is to give an account of simultaneous unity and divisions created by the ocean and by human dealing with it.

Walcott was also renowned playwright. Walcott won an Obie Award in 1971 for his play Dream on monkey Mountain, which the New Yorker described as “a poem in dramatic form.” Walcott’s plays generally treats aspects of the west Indian experience which dealing with the socio-political implications for post-colonialism and various genres such as fables, allegory, folk, ad morality play.

With his twin brother, he cofounded the Trinidad Theatre Workshop in 1950, while teaching in Boston University, he found the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre.  He also taught at Columbia University, Yale University, Rutgers University, and Essex University in England.

work cited: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/derek-walcott

Introduction of myself

Hi! I'm Ricia Gracias, student from Chowgules College of Arts and Science. I'm doing my SYBA in English.
why am I doing this Blog: I choose this method so that I can share my thoughts about what is the meaning of poetry and the poem I have taken up by the poet Derek Walcott.