Here’s a detailed analysis of Derek Walcott’s poem ‘Parades, Parades’; it’s tailored towards students taking the CIE / Cambridge A-Level syllabus but will be useful for anyone who’s working on understanding the poem at any level.
Great for revision, missed lessons, boosting analytica...
“Tell me
how it all happened, and why
I said nothing.”
(Full poem unable to be reproduced due to copyright)
VOCABULARY
Keel > The ridge at the edge of a ship, the part which gives it its structure and cuts
through the water.
Grigri palm > A type of tropical palm tree with a spiky trunk.
Independence parade > A procession that occurs on Independence day, where a
country celebrates its independence.
White papers > Government reports giving information and/or proposals on specific
topics and issues - these help decision makers in the government to understand and
act on issues.
Whitehall > A government building owned by the government of Trinidad + Tobago.
Hosanna > A cry or prayer that celebrates God (usually Jewish or Christian).
STORY/SUMMARY
The poem opens with natural images and ideas relating to how humans interact with
them. We see the desert, where no one marches except caravans (nomadic tribes who
travel through the desert), the sea, where the keels of ships cut out the same lines as
ships before them, the sky, where aeroplanes leave the same jet trails. The imagery
switches to politicians, saying that they perform a similar action of plodding the beaten
track. They pass the same motions, and stagnate in the same location. Every year, the
Independence parade is also the same, and ‘only the name of the fool changes’.
, The second stanza begins with questions - why do the children of the country have
bewildered (confused) and shy expressions, why are they terrified of the pride that has
been drummed into them? Walcott wonders if systems of government were any ‘truer’,
i.e. better, in their country of origin ‘when the law lived far away’. Conjuring an image of
a queen with her sceptre and orb commanding the realm, Walcott references Queen
Victoria. Walcott forms part of a crowd now, waiting for ‘the change of statues’ and
‘parades’.
SPEAKER/VOICE
The poem has a cynical and mocking tone, and appears to be from Walcott’s
personal perspective. It starts using third person, then switches to first person
plural ‘we’, and finally to ‘I’ in the final line.
“Here he comes now, here he comes!
Papa! Papa!” > these lines represent the voices of the childlike, innocent people
who are fooled by the public celebrations into being excited by the government and
believing it will provide a better future. The repetition and exclamatory sentences
reinforce this sense of false excitement.
THEMES/IDEAS
● Politics - In this poem, Walcott observes that new, independent political
systems are not so different from the way in which his country was governed
under colonial rule. The poem expresses apathy towards governmental
systems, criticising the irony of the country celebrating an independence parade
whilst effectively still being controlled under the same governmental system.
● Imperialism - As with most of Walcott’s poetry, the poem explores the effects
of the British Empire upon the people of the West Indies. Here, their customs
and governmental structures are shown to last even after the people have
gained so-called Independence.
● Government - Lack of innovation or progress in government is criticised, as a
poet Walcott is disillusioned by the Caribbean government. He also wonders
whether the British form of government was better employed in its country of
origin - when Victoria ruled, or whether all governments are equally ineffective.
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