Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Coral", Derek Walcott explores the complex interplay between presence and absence, using the metaphor of a piece of coral to evoke both the physical and emotional dimensions of intimacy. The poem’s central image, a piece of coral, becomes a tactile representation of the speaker’s longing and desire, as well as the way in which absence can paradoxically make something more palpable, more intensely felt.

Walcott opens with a direct and evocative statement: "This coral's shape echoes the hand / It hollowed." Immediately, he suggests that the object, once formed by a living hand, now stands as a hollowed-out trace of that touch. The coral is not just an inert object but a residue of something active, of a shaping force, and this sets up the poem’s meditation on how physical absence can be felt as intensely as presence.

The comparison between the coral and the body of the speaker’s lover deepens this meditation. The coral’s "immediate absence is heavy"—a seeming contradiction that resonates emotionally. Absence, typically associated with lightness or a lack of substance, here becomes something weighty, pressing down on the speaker’s consciousness like pumice or stone. The metaphor of coral as pumice introduces the idea of roughness and erosion, hinting at the abrasive nature of longing.

As the poem moves from the coral’s physicality to that of the lover, the imagery becomes even more intimate and personal. "As your breast in my cupped palm" brings the metaphor into the realm of the sensual, drawing a direct parallel between the coral’s texture and the lover’s body. The coral’s roughness—its "rasp[ing] like sand"—mirrors the tactile sensation of the lover’s breast, a juxtaposition of tenderness and coarseness. This tension between the smooth and the rough evokes the complexity of desire, which can be both gentle and unrelenting.

Walcott continues to explore the idea of bodily absence with the line, "Bodies in absence displace their weight." This suggests that even when the lover is not physically present, the memory or the absence of their body still exerts a kind of weight, displacing the speaker’s sense of equilibrium. The lover’s body, through its absence, becomes almost more present, more vividly imagined. The coral’s materiality serves as a stand-in for the lover’s body, and the speaker’s hand, reaching for the coral, is a symbolic attempt to grasp the intangible—to hold onto the memory or the essence of the lover.

In the poem’s final lines, Walcott reflects on the nature of intimacy and the unknowability of another person’s body. The coral "dares my hand / To claim what lovers' hands have never known." The word "dares" here suggests both a challenge and a temptation, as if the speaker is being invited to discover something beyond the surface of the coral—and, by extension, beyond the surface of the lover’s body. The closing line, "The nature of the body of another," implies that no matter how physically close two people may become, there is always an element of mystery, an unknowable quality about the body of the other.

In "Coral", Walcott uses the coral as a powerful metaphor for the way absence can heighten desire and how the physical world—through touch and texture—can evoke complex emotional responses. The poem is ultimately a meditation on the limits of intimacy and the ways in which absence can shape and intensify our perceptions of those we love. Through its vivid imagery and its subtle exploration of the tension between presence and absence, "Coral" offers a poignant reflection on love, longing, and the mysteries of the human body.

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