Discussion Topic
Interpretation and analysis of Derek Walcott's poem "The Gulf."
Summary:
In "The Gulf," Derek Walcott explores themes of separation and cultural identity. The poem reflects on the physical and emotional distances between people and places, particularly focusing on the Caribbean's colonial history and its impact on personal and collective identity. Walcott uses vivid imagery and metaphors to convey a sense of longing and the complexities of bridging these divides.
Can you analyze and explain the poem “The Gulf” by Derek Walcott?
The first line of Derek Walcott’s poem “The Gulf” provides a clue as to where the speaker is. The “airport coffee” indicates that the speaker is at an airport. The second line links to the speaker’s current condition. They come across as not too becoming. They’re described as “sour” and “unshaven.” The final line of the first stanza provides further insight into the speaker’s state. They have “racked nerves”; they’re anxious and perhaps restless.
The three lines in the second stanza seem to merge the speaker’s body with the body of the airplane. The “smoky, resinous bourbon” inside the speaker might also allude to the fuel inside the plane. The mention of the “body” in the second line and the “roar” in the third line reinforces the coupling of the agonized person and the tumultuous airplane.
In the third stanza, the “exhausted soul” in the first line, the “screeching”...
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in the second line, and the image of the speaker’s friends fading away as the plane takes off add additional evidence that the speaker’s body and the airplane have formed some kind of propulsive union.
In the fourth stanza, the speaker actually mentions a “divine union” in the first line. In the second line, the speaker arguably aligns themselves with the airplane again, as they’re both “created things” and in the air. The presence of “the Texan” in the final line of the fourth stanza appears to move the poem in another direction.
The mention of “all things” compels the speaker to consider other things, like history (Lyndon B. Johnson), philosophy (the Sophocles quote about not being born), and the beautiful and violent landscape that the speaker presumably notices from their airplane window.
Using this line-by-line explanation of the first four stanzas, as well as the review of some of the poem’s key themes, one should now have enough examples to explain the remaining lines and analyze them accordingly.
"The Gulf" doesn't lend itself easily to a line-by-line explanation because the meaning of so many of the lines is dependent upon entire stanzas (and even longer units of meaning). Additionally, the poem is full of abstract images and complex metaphors, and often those interpretations also depend on other contextual information. Below you will find an overview of the poem that should help you reexamine those individual lines with greater clarity.
First, it's important to examine the structure of the poem. It is divided into four parts, and each part grows increasingly shorter as you near the poem's conclusion. The final line is a stanza by itself, isolated from other units of meaning. That line is important to the meaning of the poem:
age after age, the uninstructing dead.
In this line, the speaker asserts that the dead are not full of wisdom and offer no sense of guidance for a meaningful life. The visual segregation of this line and the final focus on the futility of learning from the dead, which is impossible "age after age," reinforces an important theme in the poem: isolation.
If we now go back to part 1, we can see this theme developing from the opening stanzas. The speaker carries an "exhausted" soul as he sits in an airport drinking coffee. He is physically unkempt, smelling sour as he awaits a flight that will take him over Texas. When his plane takes off, his neighbor meets the moment with enthusiasm, grinning that they are "in the air" successfully. The speaker, meanwhile, takes an inventory of his possessions and considers the memories and emotions associated with each. As the jet continues its ascent, the speaker considers his own mortality and understands that love will eventually "reclaim its things as I lie dying." His flesh and blood is a metaphorical petal that continues to shrivel and die. The dead shout from their graves that it is simply better not to be born at all, yet the living continue to read from the "spines" on our shelves, believing that the words of the dead hold wisdom.
The clouds outside the plane can be seen through the panes of glass, and the speaker looks down upon the earth's "self-healing scars." Somehow, from this height, the earth "looks new" again as the speaker observes the "cratered valley" and the "lighthearted creek" below. Below, the earth is divided, and testaments to the sickness of the earth are marked with signs at filling stations all over the coasts. Gulf takes on another meaning in the poem in this stanza. Already it has been used to describe a body of water between pieces of land; now it is a reminder of mechanization and of the innate "sickness" of American society.
In the third part of this poem, gulf transforms once more to describe an emotional void between people. The setting of the South is paradoxical, generating both feelings of comfort and of "fear," which catches in the speaker's voice. This part ends with dark imagery reflecting the speaker's emotional turmoil: a blood-red rose, panthers, a black mark.
The final part begins with a juxtaposition of images: the Gulf "shines" in a way that is as "dull as lead." There is an impossibility in this description which reflects the speaker's emotional turmoil in "hav[ing] no home." Biblical imagery is utilized to convey the speaker's attitude toward the hopelessness of death; perhaps the only justice is awaiting the vengeance of God to strike down those who use his words for their own misguided and unjust purposes.
What is your interpretation of Derek Walcott's poem "The Gulf"?
An interpretation of Derek Walcott's poem “The Gulf” will include an examination of the poem's form and content, with a special emphasis on the poem's abundant imagery.
Walcott presents his poem in four sections of varying lengths. He uses three-line stanzas. This is free verse, for while Walcott does not use rhyme in his poetry, he does provide a steady rhythm. As you interpret, think about why Walcott makes these stylistic choices and how they affect the tone of the poem.
The entire poem centers around an airplane flight. The speaker is nervous, and he uses some interesting imagery to express his nerves. Look, for instance, at the words “casket hole” in the first section. He has been drinking both liquor and coffee, and now he is seated in the plane and ready for takeoff. He feels kind of like a soul detaching “itself from created things” as the plane soars into the air.
During the flight, the speaker reflects on a number of seemingly unconnected images, everything from friendships and quarrels to Dallas to tigers to books. He thinks of the way emotions play out, and he meditates on gifts and love. This collection of images makes up the speaker's life and shows his angst.
The poem's second section begins with nightfall, and the speaker uses the image to focus on pain. Conflicts, divisions, slaughter, and ghettos come to the forefront as the speaker looks out over the Gulf far below. These were and are, the poet suggests, the heritage of the South.
As the third section starts, though, the speaker reflects that “the South felt like home.” He then provides a series of images from the South that end in darkness, with hints of further violence.
Finally, in the last section, the speaker laments that he no longer has a home, and he ends with an allusion to the Bible that again suggests upheaval and even violence. The speaker's life appears to be in turmoil.