Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Derek Walcott's "Elsewhere" is a poignant and chilling meditation on global suffering, the brutality of oppressive regimes, and the privileged detachment of those who remain free from such violence. The poem is dedicated to Stephen Spender, an English poet known for his political engagement and moral concerns, which aligns with the themes of conscience and injustice that permeate this work. "Elsewhere" juxtaposes the safety and freedom enjoyed in one part of the world with the oppression, violence, and silencing that occurs elsewhere, highlighting the dissonance between these contrasting realities.

The poem opens with a stark and unsettling image: “Somewhere a white horse gallops with its mane / plunging round a field whose sticks / are ringed with barbed wire and men / break stones or plait straw into ricks.” The white horse, often a symbol of purity or freedom, is ironically set against a backdrop of imprisonment, labor, and suffering. The image of men breaking stones, typically associated with forced labor in prisons or concentration camps, immediately situates the reader in a world of confinement and oppression. The barbed wire emphasizes this sense of captivity, suggesting that freedom, represented by the white horse, is an elusive dream for those trapped within such conditions.

Walcott continues with the line “Somewhere women tire of the shawled sea’s / weeping,” evoking the sorrow of those left behind as fishermen risk their lives at sea. The sea, personified as weeping, mirrors the grief and worry of the women whose loved ones may never return. The image of the sea being “blue as peace” is laden with irony; although the sea is calm and peaceful in appearance, it carries the potential for loss and tragedy. The mention of being “tired of torture stories” further underscores the fatigue and desensitization that can arise from constant exposure to stories of suffering and brutality. There is a pervasive sense of exhaustion in the face of ongoing violence, a resignation to the grim realities of life in many parts of the world.

The repetition of the word “somewhere” throughout the poem creates a sense of distance, as if the atrocities being described are happening in a place far removed from the speaker’s own reality. This distance highlights the divide between those who live in relative freedom and those who are subjected to oppression and violence. “Somewhere there was an arrest,” Walcott writes, followed by “Somewhere there was a small harvest / of bodies in the truck.” These lines are chilling in their understatement; the “small harvest of bodies” evokes the dehumanizing reduction of human lives to mere numbers, while the arrest suggests the arbitrary detentions that are commonplace in authoritarian regimes.

As the poem progresses, Walcott expands on this sense of detachment, pointing out the grim reality that “elsewhere” on the planet, “a summary rifle-butt / breaks a skull into the idea of a heaven.” The brutality of this image—where a person’s skull is shattered by a rifle-butt, violently sending them to whatever concept of heaven they might hold—underscores the extreme and senseless violence that so many people endure. The contrast between this violence and the relative safety enjoyed by the speaker creates an uncomfortable awareness of privilege and complicity.

The poem also explores the silencing of dissent and the control of thought by authoritarian regimes. “Whatever we write / will be stamped twice, a blue letter, / its throat slit by the paper-knife of the State.” This image of censorship and surveillance conveys the oppressive power of the state to control even the most private and personal expressions of thought. The “paper-knife” suggests that the written word is under constant threat, as free expression is literally and figuratively cut down by the mechanisms of the state.

Walcott contrasts the silence of the oppressed with the “blameless” world of those who are free from such suffering. The repetition of “somewhere” serves to remind the reader that the violence and oppression described are not confined to any one place or time—they happen constantly, in many different parts of the world. Yet the people living in relative freedom are often detached from this reality, able to ignore the suffering of others because it is not happening “here.”

The final lines of the poem introduce a moral dilemma: “The darker crime / is to make a career of conscience, / to feel through our own nerves the silent scream / of winter branches, wonders read as signs.” Here, Walcott critiques the tendency of some to intellectualize or romanticize suffering, turning it into a “career of conscience” rather than taking meaningful action. The “silent scream of winter branches” evokes the anguish of those who suffer in silence, while the “wonders read as signs” suggests that some view these atrocities as abstract symbols rather than urgent human crises.

In "Elsewhere", Walcott grapples with the stark contrast between the freedom of some and the oppression of others, urging readers to confront the uncomfortable reality that, while we may live in safety, “elsewhere” there is suffering that we cannot afford to ignore. The poem is a call to acknowledge our interconnectedness and to resist the temptation to turn away from the violence and injustice that exist in the world. Walcott’s powerful imagery and haunting language compel the reader to confront the harsh truth that freedom is not universal, and that we must remain vigilant in our commitment to justice for all.

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