Sample essay- Free.
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Derek Walcott’s “Sea
Canes” establishes a man deeply impacted by the loss of his friends to death. He opens the first stanza with a shadow of
anger, declaring that his friends have vanished to the Earth, which brings him
to remembrance of them. From the anger,
he relies on hope and strength into the symbolism of sea canes-, which
represents something powerful coming from symbol of the sea canes that he left
in the Caribbean to manifest his emotions, and change to acceptance. Walcott is begging Mother Earth to let go of
his friend. The grip of death is so cold,
it is like a man going on the farm to sow the seed and never return. Sea canes, Walcott’s, friends, strive strong
from death yet remain the same on a loving level.
“Half my friends are dead.”/ Walcott seems to be mourning the death of his friends. He is showing grief, pain and sorrows for those who passed on before him. He is showing the readers that if they had someone deceased they are not alone, because his friends are dead and it is affecting him. (Line 1). This allows you to distinguish Walcott’s emotion and a little anger that shadows his lips. in This poem is showing Walcott’s experiences with death and how he react to it. When he said, “half of his friends are dead/ one can only imagine how lonely he is at this point.
“I will make you new ones, said earth”/ (2). Walcott wants to start up another friendly relationship because he feels that the earth is taking away his friends. He argues with it as a hungry “Parrot” who is lock up in a cage for days without food and suddenly somebody passed by it and heard it crying, feeds it some grain. What is fascinating in this line is the way in which Walcott allows the earth to be sympatric when it says Earth, “I will make you a new one. He, Earth, represents the creation of God and the eternal working of the way others thinks about life after death. This seems like after death there is a higher being unknown, underneath which controls the Earth. It could be also interpreted as a deity in a symbol of creation of life and death.
“No, give me them back, as they were, instead,”/ Walcott goes on to describe his feelings about his friends. You could hear his Caribbean accents whispering within blue ocean waves seeping in amongst the sea canes. With cutting harmonious sound of sharp races to the shore with Walcott’s voice saying, “give me them back” (line 3).
His voice echoes through every dead
man’s skull in the Earth when that cry paves throughout the sea canes.
“With faults and all, I cried.”/ Walcott is saying that he has some problems but regardless of that, he feels the loss of his friends. This leaves his readers to be sympathetic with him and the loss of his friends. If you observe the tone in this line, it is very soft. He said, “With fault and all, I cried” (4). It is very touching to a concerned soul who has lost their love ones and close friends. As we continue to explore this poem Sea Canes, we notice that despite grief, pain and sorrows, Walcott’s writing style brings out that dancing Caribbean rhythm in the stanzas.
“Tonight I can snatch their talk”. / It seems like Walcott, and his friends used to hang out somewhere and they used to have some solid conversation about constructive things. Because he is telling his readers that whatever they were talking about leaves an impression on him; so he would like to be hearing their voices again. (Line 5). Analyzes his comment, he shifts his Caribbean intonation into the American accent by using the word “snatch” not that people in the Island do not use this word, but is the way in which he used it. “From the faint surf's drone”/ in this line we have faint and surf’s which allows one to think that Walcott is in this mind set of dropping dead because of his grief. In one hand, surf’s is definitely telling his audiences that he is cutting up inside because he cannot accept his friends leaving him to the Earth. As we know, the significance of surf is breaking waves in the ocean. The next word that pulls our attention in the same line (6), drone, he is showing helplessness as if he himself wants to die. That must have been why he entitled his poem “Sea Canes”, because of undecided motif- in using words such as, faint, surf and drone.
“Through the canes, but I cannot walk”/Walcott is giving us an image of disablement, which can interpret that his problems has paralyzed his feet. He brings us to the point of questioning whereas, we have no idea what is on his mind. His readers at this time see him in a depressive mood, with a sense of holiness. His word moves from speech to speech with an explanation of “I cannot walk” the sea canes. This time, the canes show no symbol because he cannot walk. Before the canes were beautiful with that ocean waves which gives that dazzling Caribbean sunshine above the ocean. In despair, Walcott disappears from his weariness and sorrows into a promising and direct attitude: “On the moonlight leaves of the ocean / down that white road alone”/ or float with the dreaming motion”/ ( Line 9-11). When Walcott is speaking of the moonlit leaves of the ocean, it seems like he is referring to the white sand beach in his country where on the beach at night you will see the glaze of the moonlight reflecting on the leaves un-top of the sea sand. How Walcott plays with words that brings him back in the Caribbean. Leaves, Ocean, white road… He took a long white road leading him to the white sand beach, or he may be referring to heaving since his friends are dead. When Walcott also mentioned that he also… float with a dreaming motion… he may be reminiscing on his friends and how to be a spirit to fly away through the air as one does when they are dreaming: With thought but not using his senses, feeling or touching. He describes this floating sensation in connection like an “owls leaving the earth’s load”/ a bird that wonder through the night time, that free without “load”, Walcott’s spirit returns to the Earth, in which he argues as he has stated that the Earth takes away his friends from him. The “Sea Canes” this topic have lead readers into some unusual lines in this poem. An example is how Walcott, who is the writer and narrator, shift from depression to eternal hope and promise of something more glorious in the future. When he begins to speak from the speaking as another speaker to speaking to the speaker, he brings his readers to the significance of the poem. On the other hand, he moves from the speech to storytelling, “ of owls leaving earth’s load”/ O earth, the number of friends you keep”/ exceeds those left to be loved”/ (line 11-12). Walcott is so tied up with the living and the dead, he is holding on to the friends that are dead and the one that are alive. He is providing counseling for those who has loss their love ones. He is a wise man and he carries an overall sense in his worst moment throughout his writing.
Conclusion:
“With faults and all, I cried.”/ Walcott is saying that he has some problems but regardless of that, he feels the loss of his friends. This leaves his readers to be sympathetic with him and the loss of his friends. If you observe the tone in this line, it is very soft. He said, “With fault and all, I cried” (4). It is very touching to a concerned soul who has lost their love ones and close friends. As we continue to explore this poem Sea Canes, we notice that despite grief, pain and sorrows, Walcott’s writing style brings out that dancing Caribbean rhythm in the stanzas.
“Tonight I can snatch their talk”. / It seems like Walcott, and his friends used to hang out somewhere and they used to have some solid conversation about constructive things. Because he is telling his readers that whatever they were talking about leaves an impression on him; so he would like to be hearing their voices again. (Line 5). Analyzes his comment, he shifts his Caribbean intonation into the American accent by using the word “snatch” not that people in the Island do not use this word, but is the way in which he used it. “From the faint surf's drone”/ in this line we have faint and surf’s which allows one to think that Walcott is in this mind set of dropping dead because of his grief. In one hand, surf’s is definitely telling his audiences that he is cutting up inside because he cannot accept his friends leaving him to the Earth. As we know, the significance of surf is breaking waves in the ocean. The next word that pulls our attention in the same line (6), drone, he is showing helplessness as if he himself wants to die. That must have been why he entitled his poem “Sea Canes”, because of undecided motif- in using words such as, faint, surf and drone.
“Through the canes, but I cannot walk”/Walcott is giving us an image of disablement, which can interpret that his problems has paralyzed his feet. He brings us to the point of questioning whereas, we have no idea what is on his mind. His readers at this time see him in a depressive mood, with a sense of holiness. His word moves from speech to speech with an explanation of “I cannot walk” the sea canes. This time, the canes show no symbol because he cannot walk. Before the canes were beautiful with that ocean waves which gives that dazzling Caribbean sunshine above the ocean. In despair, Walcott disappears from his weariness and sorrows into a promising and direct attitude: “On the moonlight leaves of the ocean / down that white road alone”/ or float with the dreaming motion”/ ( Line 9-11). When Walcott is speaking of the moonlit leaves of the ocean, it seems like he is referring to the white sand beach in his country where on the beach at night you will see the glaze of the moonlight reflecting on the leaves un-top of the sea sand. How Walcott plays with words that brings him back in the Caribbean. Leaves, Ocean, white road… He took a long white road leading him to the white sand beach, or he may be referring to heaving since his friends are dead. When Walcott also mentioned that he also… float with a dreaming motion… he may be reminiscing on his friends and how to be a spirit to fly away through the air as one does when they are dreaming: With thought but not using his senses, feeling or touching. He describes this floating sensation in connection like an “owls leaving the earth’s load”/ a bird that wonder through the night time, that free without “load”, Walcott’s spirit returns to the Earth, in which he argues as he has stated that the Earth takes away his friends from him. The “Sea Canes” this topic have lead readers into some unusual lines in this poem. An example is how Walcott, who is the writer and narrator, shift from depression to eternal hope and promise of something more glorious in the future. When he begins to speak from the speaking as another speaker to speaking to the speaker, he brings his readers to the significance of the poem. On the other hand, he moves from the speech to storytelling, “ of owls leaving earth’s load”/ O earth, the number of friends you keep”/ exceeds those left to be loved”/ (line 11-12). Walcott is so tied up with the living and the dead, he is holding on to the friends that are dead and the one that are alive. He is providing counseling for those who has loss their love ones. He is a wise man and he carries an overall sense in his worst moment throughout his writing.
Conclusion:
Interpreting this poem shows the loss of
Walcott’s friends and how he misses them. It shows that he is feeling lonely because
he wants his friends around him. But at the sametime, he wants to show the
readers that when death comes there is a grieving process that each person must
encounter, Sorrows or pain Walcott ends this poem “Sea Canes” by saying, “brings
those we love before us, as they were, with faults and all, not, just their…”/
Walcott is experiencing loneliness. He do not care about his friend’s Faults,
he just need them around him. With great emotions he said, “I was in your place
once and this is what I discovered within myself that helped me through it.”
Many of his reader may thing Walcott is just telling a story for the good of
it, yet in reality life, he is teaching us a lesson about life and death.
