Homecoming: Anse La Raye
Derek Walcott
“Whatever else we learned
at school, like solemn Afro-Greeks eager for grades,
of Helen and the shades
of borrowed ancestors”
(Full poem unable to be reproduced due to copyright)
VOCABULARY
Solemn - serious, formal
Rites - religious rituals
Looms - machines or devices that create a frame for weaving fabric
Brittle - easily broken
Posture - the stance or attitude that a person takes e.g. in an upright posture they are
standing tall and straight
To suffer something - to put up with / bear / cope with
Freighter - a cargo ship that transports goods
Scowl - frown angrily
Esplanade - a walkway by the sea or a body of water
Draughts - a board game where round coloured counters are moved across a
checkerboard
STORY/SUMMARY
Stanza 1: Speaking directly to Garth St Omer, Walcott says that they were ‘like two
Afro-Greeks’ in school, students who felt an equal longing towards the African heritage
that was their history, and the Ancient Greek culture that they learned of in literature.
They learned about Helen of Troy, and ‘borrowed ancestors’ - Greek ancestors that
were not direct descendants, but ones that they learned about and felt connected to
nonetheless. They also learned that there were no rites - rituals or celebrations - for
people who returned home (he may be thinking of Odysseus here, see context for more
info). When the images that inspired and captivated them in childhood (such as Helen
, weaving her tapestry of Troy) fade, St Omer is left with nights spent reliving his traumas
through dreams. There is only the familiar old setting to help him adjust back to his
homeland, except now the swords (machetes) are ‘salt rusted’, the sea-grape leaves
are ‘rotted’ and the beach is ‘fish gut reeking. Children race to meet St Omer, because
of the way he looks and stands, they mistake him for a tourist in his own country. They
are drawn to his pain, his soreness and discomfort at finding both his homeland, and
himself, greatly changed over the years.
Stanza 2: Walcott urges St Omer to allow the curious children to come to him, whether
they survive or not, the wider experience of life and the world that St Omer has had will
never be possible for them. To them, it is like seeing the silvery cargo ship on the
horizon - something beautiful, but far off and inaccessible. For once, St Omer just
wanted to live in his homeland, staying in Anse La Raye and staring out at ‘the infinite,
boring, paradisal sea’. He hoped that he could mean something to them, to declare that
he is the official poet of these children, that he will stand up for and represent their voice
in the world. He knew that he would feel like this, but never realised that he’d also learn
that some homecomings don’t bring the feeling of home with them - he has returned to
his birthplace, the place where he grew up, but he does not feel ‘at home’ there: it is no
longer comforting and familiar to him.
Stanza 3: For all his hopes, he is unable to give the children anything.They curse him,
but their words disappear into the air. The black cliffs around scowl at him, and the
ocean hisses - it is as if the landscape itself has turned against him for abandoning it.
He sways like a hollow canoe, like a drifting petal that has suddenly fallen into a cup
and being caught - seeing only his own image, thinking only of himself, ‘reflecting
nothing’. The ship and the children are gone. He’s dazed by the sun, and goes back
from the beach to the village. He travels past the white esplanade, where dead
fishermen are playing board games under the palm trees. One of the men looks at him
‘with a politician’s / ignorant, sweet smile’ and nods, as if he has the power to control
fate with one wave of his hand.
SPEAKER/VOICE
The speaker is Walcott himself, his addressee is Garth St Omer, an old friend who
was a classmate of his. They have a lot of similarities - both feel a strong connection
to their African heritage, as well as Ancient Greek literature and culture. They both
moved away from St Lucia, but while Walcott (at the point of writing the poem) had
