DEREK WALCOTT As a poet
Q- Evaluate Derek Walcott as a poet with English tongue and Caribbean soul with special reference to his poetry studied by you.
v Introduction:-
Derek Walcott is an outstanding lyric poet of the West Indies writing in English. He is one of the three greatest poets writing in the English language in the world today, the other two being Seamus Heaney and Jorie Graham. His father was a Bohemian; that is a person, who lives and behaves in an informal way that is considered typical of artists and writers. His mother was a teacher, who had been a real inspiration to Derek to compose poetry, not only that but she really encouraged him to read poetry of good poets of the world and he did it just like a prayer. He had
great regards for his parents. His mother really inspired him to write poetry as she knew that her son had the potential to write lyrical poetry. He was a brilliant student nd got scholarship for university education in Jamaica, the West Indies.
His book-length work, Omeros (1990), was modelled on the epics of Homer and sang the history of St. Lucia. Walcott was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992, the first Caribbean writer to receive the honor. The Nobel committee described his work as “a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment.”
As a real patriot:-
Derek has been a real patriot and loves his country more than anything else. Unlike his fellow writer, V.S.Naipaul, who turned his back on the West Indies, Derek still takes an active interest in the cultural life of the West Indies. He devotes a lot of time in writing poetry along ith his profession of a professor in Boston.
His lyrical poetry is at once extremely lush and lyrical. He has a sort of propulsion that is the force that pushes something forward and he continues to get inspiration to write poetry. The main characteristics of his poetry are his love for his native land which is generally green and pleasant. In fact he has taken the coloniser’s language and made it fresh and lucid.
v the conflict between the heritage of European and West Indian culture
In his poetry, Walcott studies the conflict between the heritage of European and West Indian culture, from slavery to independence of the West Indians during his youth. His collection of poems entitled ‘The Bounty’ is significant and can be interpreted in so many ways. Its literal meanings are:
(1) The good things that something provides,
(2) Generous behaviour,
In West Indies it is pronounced as “bungti” which means liberality in giving, something that is given liberally, a reward, and an inducement. His poems in this collection are full of allusions to the English poetic tradition and symbolic imagination that is at once personal and Caribbean. He is an extremely prolific poet who made his debut at the age of 18 with 25 poems. Widespread recognition as a poet came with the publication of “In A Green Night” in 1964. His poems are full of The West Indian way of life.
v His rage against the racism
Walcott has expressed his rage against the racism and the rejection of colonial culture very powerfully. For his contribution to world literature, Derek Walcott was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1992. “The Bounty” has many kinds of poems and some of them are very complex also. He has used a lot of metaphors in most of his poems. He writes about the Caribbean and the African lands in his “The Bounty” poems. He writes about nature and natural surroundings of his native land.
v The most representative poet of the West Indies
Derek Walcott, the most representative poet of the West Indies, developed himself from the scratch, and by his own will-power, self-discipline, and the desire to be a poet, made him self heard and respected by those who came in his contact and they acknowledged him as a great poet. He is proud to belong to the West Indies, and he visualized a great future for his country not in the conventional manner, in refinement and culture confined to the upper few, but in a vast, comprehensive progress shared by the mass of the common people with their ordinary aims, objects and occupations.
He felt that the West Indies was a different nation from all other nations, because she was made up of strong, self-reliant and independent elements drawn from various nations, who by the sheer power of determination and an iron will were destined to weld themselves into the greatest and most powerful nation of the world. He takes an active interest in the cultural life of the West Indies. He has worked as a professor of poetry at the University of Boston and divides his time between Trinidad and the U.S.A.
The Caribbean poet.
‘The Bounty’ is his collection of lush and lyrical poetry on various complex subjects. Most of the poems in this collection contain complex ideas. He is the most representative poet of the West Indies. In fact he is rightly called the Caribbean poet. Most of his poems in ‘The Bounty’ give voice to the Caribbean personality. He believed that the Caribbean poets so far had not made any honest attempt to represent the West Indies in their poems. He wanted the West Indies to have a poet of her own, and when he found that there was none, he took up that task himself. While writing poems for his various collections of poems like ‘In a Green Night’ (1964) which manifested his primary requirement to create a literature truthful to the West Indian life. In ‘The Fortunate Traveler’ (1981) and ‘Midsummer’ (1984) Walcott explored his known situation as a black writer in America who has become estranged (to break up relations) from Caribbean homeland. The very title of such books as Castaways’ (1965) and ‘The Gulf’ (1969) referred to his feeling of artistic isolation.
v Nostalgic elements
Most of the poems in his ‘The Bounty’ are great works of art. In most of the poems in this
collection, he has expressed his rage against the racism and the rejection of colonial culture powerfully and for his contribution to world literature, Derek Walcott was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature n 1992. There is nostalgic element in his poetry as he writes:
“ So, for my, my own epitaph, “Here lies
D.W. This place is good to die in. It was really.”
He also expresses natural surroundings in his poems like ‘For Adam Zagajewski,’ ‘Christmas Eve’ and other poems untitled poems. He has his own peculiar style and individual language of his own country. He writes about his experiences of Caribbean land and the African land. One of his poems is a tribute to his late friend Joseph Brodsky who was a fellow Nobel Prize winner and Russian poet. Most of his poems in ‘The Bounty’ are outstanding and significant.
His works include the Homeric epic poem, Omeros (1990).] Robert Graves wrote that Walcott "handles English with a closer understanding of its inner magic than most, if not any, of his contemporaries”.
Q- Evaluate Derek Walcott as a poet with English tongue and Caribbean soul with special reference to his poetry studied by you.
v Introduction:-
Derek Walcott is an outstanding lyric poet of the West Indies writing in English. He is one of the three greatest poets writing in the English language in the world today, the other two being Seamus Heaney and Jorie Graham. His father was a Bohemian; that is a person, who lives and behaves in an informal way that is considered typical of artists and writers. His mother was a teacher, who had been a real inspiration to Derek to compose poetry, not only that but she really encouraged him to read poetry of good poets of the world and he did it just like a prayer. He had
great regards for his parents. His mother really inspired him to write poetry as she knew that her son had the potential to write lyrical poetry. He was a brilliant student nd got scholarship for university education in Jamaica, the West Indies.
His book-length work, Omeros (1990), was modelled on the epics of Homer and sang the history of St. Lucia. Walcott was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992, the first Caribbean writer to receive the honor. The Nobel committee described his work as “a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment.”
As a real patriot:-
Derek has been a real patriot and loves his country more than anything else. Unlike his fellow writer, V.S.Naipaul, who turned his back on the West Indies, Derek still takes an active interest in the cultural life of the West Indies. He devotes a lot of time in writing poetry along ith his profession of a professor in Boston.
His lyrical poetry is at once extremely lush and lyrical. He has a sort of propulsion that is the force that pushes something forward and he continues to get inspiration to write poetry. The main characteristics of his poetry are his love for his native land which is generally green and pleasant. In fact he has taken the coloniser’s language and made it fresh and lucid.
v the conflict between the heritage of European and West Indian culture
In his poetry, Walcott studies the conflict between the heritage of European and West Indian culture, from slavery to independence of the West Indians during his youth. His collection of poems entitled ‘The Bounty’ is significant and can be interpreted in so many ways. Its literal meanings are:
(1) The good things that something provides,
(2) Generous behaviour,
In West Indies it is pronounced as “bungti” which means liberality in giving, something that is given liberally, a reward, and an inducement. His poems in this collection are full of allusions to the English poetic tradition and symbolic imagination that is at once personal and Caribbean. He is an extremely prolific poet who made his debut at the age of 18 with 25 poems. Widespread recognition as a poet came with the publication of “In A Green Night” in 1964. His poems are full of The West Indian way of life.
v His rage against the racism
Walcott has expressed his rage against the racism and the rejection of colonial culture very powerfully. For his contribution to world literature, Derek Walcott was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1992. “The Bounty” has many kinds of poems and some of them are very complex also. He has used a lot of metaphors in most of his poems. He writes about the Caribbean and the African lands in his “The Bounty” poems. He writes about nature and natural surroundings of his native land.
v The most representative poet of the West Indies
Derek Walcott, the most representative poet of the West Indies, developed himself from the scratch, and by his own will-power, self-discipline, and the desire to be a poet, made him self heard and respected by those who came in his contact and they acknowledged him as a great poet. He is proud to belong to the West Indies, and he visualized a great future for his country not in the conventional manner, in refinement and culture confined to the upper few, but in a vast, comprehensive progress shared by the mass of the common people with their ordinary aims, objects and occupations.
He felt that the West Indies was a different nation from all other nations, because she was made up of strong, self-reliant and independent elements drawn from various nations, who by the sheer power of determination and an iron will were destined to weld themselves into the greatest and most powerful nation of the world. He takes an active interest in the cultural life of the West Indies. He has worked as a professor of poetry at the University of Boston and divides his time between Trinidad and the U.S.A.
The Caribbean poet.
‘The Bounty’ is his collection of lush and lyrical poetry on various complex subjects. Most of the poems in this collection contain complex ideas. He is the most representative poet of the West Indies. In fact he is rightly called the Caribbean poet. Most of his poems in ‘The Bounty’ give voice to the Caribbean personality. He believed that the Caribbean poets so far had not made any honest attempt to represent the West Indies in their poems. He wanted the West Indies to have a poet of her own, and when he found that there was none, he took up that task himself. While writing poems for his various collections of poems like ‘In a Green Night’ (1964) which manifested his primary requirement to create a literature truthful to the West Indian life. In ‘The Fortunate Traveler’ (1981) and ‘Midsummer’ (1984) Walcott explored his known situation as a black writer in America who has become estranged (to break up relations) from Caribbean homeland. The very title of such books as Castaways’ (1965) and ‘The Gulf’ (1969) referred to his feeling of artistic isolation.
v Nostalgic elements
Most of the poems in his ‘The Bounty’ are great works of art. In most of the poems in this
collection, he has expressed his rage against the racism and the rejection of colonial culture powerfully and for his contribution to world literature, Derek Walcott was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature n 1992. There is nostalgic element in his poetry as he writes:
“ So, for my, my own epitaph, “Here lies
D.W. This place is good to die in. It was really.”
He also expresses natural surroundings in his poems like ‘For Adam Zagajewski,’ ‘Christmas Eve’ and other poems untitled poems. He has his own peculiar style and individual language of his own country. He writes about his experiences of Caribbean land and the African land. One of his poems is a tribute to his late friend Joseph Brodsky who was a fellow Nobel Prize winner and Russian poet. Most of his poems in ‘The Bounty’ are outstanding and significant.
His works include the Homeric epic poem, Omeros (1990).] Robert Graves wrote that Walcott "handles English with a closer understanding of its inner magic than most, if not any, of his contemporaries”.
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