Group 2: The Sea is History
Discuss this poem using terms from the Poetry Primer handout. You needn't write about the entire poem, but choose an image or a rhythm device, et al. that catches your interest. Maybe find a challenging line or stanza and propose interpretations. Look up unfamiliar references and words. Be sure to read other students' responses to avoid repetition.
posted by Randy Barnett @ 8:51 AM
2 Comments:
I think that this poem is equating History to the Sea, because it is the sea that dictates everything. The first stanza states that the momuments, battles and martyrs have been locked up by the sea. Once people die, once statues erode, everything eventually ends up back into the ocean from whence it came. The poem moves through Genesis (Birth) and the Exodus (as we left the sea)... but I think that Derek Walcot believes that the Sea is Hisotry because life on earth originated from the sea and everything will eventually return to the sea as well. The ocean is one of the only things that has stood the test of time, that has remained constant for millions of years. The sea has witnessed events that have tranpired milenia before our time, and for that reason, if anything can be called history, the sea can.
I think Walcott describes in his poem the idea that the further we evolve and our distance from the ocean grows, the more skewed our definition becomes. It is similar "The Life and Times of Micheal K", in that we discussed that the doctor could never find the freedom K achieved because he would always be trying. In this poem, I think Walcott is sayingt that in the modern world we are so concerned with defining history that we do nnot take history for what is and make it too complicate. In the poem, Walcott begins with the ocean, explaining how the sea is history. As the poem progresses, Walcott strays futher and further away from the ocean. Finally at the end, Walcott incorporates flies, herons, ambassodors, police, catepillars... things not realated to the ocean and with them he states "like a rumor without any echo of History, really begginning." It is really begginning because we need to define history but we can't see history simply or look at the real source of history.
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