Midsummer XXVII

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1984

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Poem Analysis

Themes

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Literary Devices

Further Reading & Resources

Related Poems

“Midsummer, I” by Derek Walcott (1984)

This is the first poem in Walcott’s collection of the same title. In it, the speaker describes returning to the islands during the summer. As with “Midsummer XXVII” the speaker probes the landscape to understand the challenges, shortcomings, and difficulties of both the islands and its people. He notes that it hasn’t even been able to form a people (Line 9). Instead, the tires keep shaking the human heart (Line 25). This introduces one of Walcott’s major themes, which is the insecurity of identity among those who have inherited the legacy of colonization, a theme he continues to probe in “Midsummer XXVII.”

“Midsummer, Tobago” by Derek Walcott (1984)

This is another of Walcott’s poems from his collection Midsummer. It deals with some of the themes he explores in “Midsummer I” and “Midsummer XXVII,” including a shifting identity; however, this poem seems more personal. The speaker writes about how he has experienced days and also “lost” (Line 9) days in the islands, but presumably because of age and not because of political or cultural interventions. In the last lines, he references daughters leaving, (Lines 10-11), which likely refers to his own children who grew up and moved away. Unlike many of Walcott’s other poems, this one is distinctly short, moving away from his typically ornate style to a paired-down style.

“Sea Grapes” by Derek Walcott (1986)

One of Walcott’s more well-known poems, “Sea Grapes” demonstrates the cultural influence he took from studying British and European literature. Set in the Caribbean, Walcott’s homeland, the speaker references “The Classics,” referring to the European canon he would have studied in school. Demonstrating his love for that literature, the speaker looks to such classics for consolation, but as the speaker notes in the final line of the poem, the classics can console only partially, and never enough.

Further Literary Resources

Saint Lucia’s Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott interview on his extended poem Omeros by Unitedpac St. Lucia (2014)

In this interview, Walcott discusses his early life, influences, and feelings about St. Lucia and the former British colonizers. He discusses his love of the English language and English poets and how they influenced his poetry. He reads some of his epic poem, Omeros, and discusses his intention to create a poem that casts his own home as the setting of a piece of literature historically associated only with European cultures.

“North and South, A Look at Walcott’s Midsummer” by Patricia Ismond (1986)

In this academic paper, Ismond looks at the content of Walcott’s book, Midsummer, focusing on its exploration of changing cultural landscapes. As Ismond notes, many reviewers have focused on the style of Walcott’s writing, rather than on the subject matter of his work. Her essay aims to redress this.

“Walcott’s XXIII from Midsummer” by Tim McGee (2020)

In this brief lecture, Tim McGee gives students a truncated version of Walcott’s background and cultural heritage. He reads the poem, “XXIII” from Midsummer, then offers some commentary on its influences and significance. This poem focuses on the irony of formerly enslaved and colonized people performing Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which is about a man enslaving an Indigenous person for his own purposes. This poem will help readers of “Midsummer XXVII” appreciate the greater context of the book in which it appears, and the history of colonization.