Group 4: The Season of Phantasmal Peace
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 @ 8:52 AM
6 Comments:
I believe Derek Walcott's poem describes a single moment of peace he felt. At the end, he lets his audience know that "this season lasted one moment . . . but, for such as our earth is now, it lasted long". He is saying that there is "so much trouble in the world"(Bob Marley, great song), so this peaceful moment he experienced was something special and refreshing, and even though it was only a single moment, the world had not experienced peace at all for a long time. This lyric captures the positive spirit this moment invoked in a man whose other poems, by comparison, are grim, realistic to the point of cynicism, and at times violent. I see the moment as one of early morning, making this a dawn poem. I picture Walcott's experience taking place when the sun is at its most intense, just after it has cleared the horizon, when the sky is vibrant with color and filled with birds. Looking towards the sun at a moment like this will blind a man, but can also cause immense joy at being alive. I believe this is what happened to Mr. Walcott when he happened to rise early on a beatiful day, and it relieved all the tensions and stresses of this oppressive modern world for just a moment.
Walcott's poem depicts a "season" of uplifting and peace that "lasted one moment." He describes everything as if it were flowing nicely together, the "birds lifted together" the "shadows of this earth." I agree with Kent in that the birds are peace and freedom symbols in this poem, acting as sources of relief. I think Lino was right as well in his explanation of this being a dawn poem when he says "a moment like this will blind a man, but can also cause immense joy at being alive."
In this poem, Walcott expresses his dissatisfaction with the current world, and his hope for a time of peace. His main recurring symbol of birds throughout his piece represent the many different people, places, and opinions in the world. Yet, in his poem, the birds get along, something which is all too often not seen in modern day societies. Warcott then goes on to state his dream of a true peace, where the birds have "lifted the net...above all change." And although this may seem to have "lasted one moment," its impact will have "lasted long."
"and high concern for the fields and cities where the birds belong, except it was their seasonal passing, Love, made seasonless"
Perhaps Walcott is implying that the further away from earth the birds (or natures creatures) fly, the more at peace they will be. The single moment of peace is brought on as the "birds lifted together." I think there is a connection between how much peace there seems to be and how caught up we are in unimportant matters, or stuck in our own lives, example, "wingless ones below them who shared dark holes in windows and in houses"
This poem, I believe is about the coming together of all the races, humanity, it is beautiful and I hope prophetic :o)
Thanks to all.
Post a Comment
<< Home