18 pages • 36-minute read
To Return To The Trees
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Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“The Noble Nature” by Ben Jonson (1640)
In this poem, Ben Jonson compares human lifespan and scope to an oak and a lily, favoring the lily’s light and beauty to the oak’s endurance. Walcott’s speaker associates Jonson with an oak in “To Return to the Trees,” engaging in a kind of banter with Jonson’s poem.
“Lapis Lazuli” by William Butler Yeats (1933)
Yeats’s poem, like “To Return to the Trees,” examines the durability of art and language, leaving room for hope that the artistic impulse and sense of joy might survive even after the works themselves inevitably fade. Also like “To Return to the Trees,” Yeats interacts with art and artists across time, finding the joy of creation to be the unifying trait.
“Sea Grapes” by Derek Walcott (1972)
This poem from the same volume as “To Return to the Trees” also examines classical epics within a Caribbean terrain. It includes similar themes found in “To Return to the Trees,” including the poem’s telling last line: “The classics can console. But not enough” (Line 19). “Sea Grapes” opens the book; “To Return to the Trees” ends it.
Further Literary Resources
“The Fame of Derek Walcott” by David Mason (2014)
This review examines Walcott’s life and cultural legacy, stopping to examine several poems in depth. Its scope covers Walcott’s full career, contextualizing individual works and discussing various critical responses.
“On Derek Walcott” by Seamus Perry and Mark Ford (2021)
This podcast conversation takes a comprehensive look at Walcott’s influences and central themes within the context of modern poetry. The authors focus particularly on Walcott’s relation of language and landscape, especially relevant for understanding “To Return to the Trees.”
“Decolonizing Culture and Politics with Derek Walcott” by Amílcar Sanatan (2017)
This article examines Walcott’s life and work in a Caribbean political and cultural context, especially focusing on the way in which Walcott redefined modern Caribbean identity. The author looks at the ways in which Walcott both admired and challenged European tradition, as well as Walcott’s role as a representative of Caribbean perspectives to the wider world.
Listen to Poem
Derek Walcott reads "Sea Grapes"
This 1992 recording shows Derek Walcott reading another poem from the same collection as “To Return to the Trees.”
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