THE STAR APPLE KINGDOM

by Derek Walcott ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 1979

In his fourth volume of poetry, Derek Walcott has deftly fused a bold narrative voice with the evocative imagery of his native Caribbean. Written to depict a journey through the archipelago of islands lying between Trinidad and Jamaica, this book also outlines a geography of the human soul. Through use of direct address and historical or fictional personae, Walcott maps out relationships between the sentiments of love, devotion, displacement, failure. In ""Egypt, Tobago,"" Marc Antony is "". . . too tired to move;/ a groan would waken/ trumpets, one more gesture,/ war. . .""; and in ""The Schooner Flight,"" a mulatto sailor about to ship out laments: "". . . I swear to you, by my mother's milk,/ by the stars that shall fly from tonight's furnace,/ that I loved them, my children, my wife, my home;/ I loved them as poets love the poetry/ that kills them/ as drowned sailors the sea. . . . ""The persuasiveness of the most unlikely characters is due to a meticulous use of diction and rhythm, and to the poet's directness--however deep the levels of experience he approaches.

Pub Date: March 15, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1979

Categories: NONFICTION