Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Derek Walcott's "Midsummer: 21" is a contemplative poem that blends religious imagery, memory, and existential questioning. Through vivid depictions of heaven, desert landscapes, and childhood, Walcott explores themes of faith, emptiness, and the longing for resurrection. The poem captures a profound tension between the ritualistic aspects of religion and the more elusive, almost forgotten hope of salvation.

The poem opens with a striking image of "a long, white, summer cloud, like a cleared linen table," which sets the tone of quiet contemplation. The comparison to a linen table evokes both domestic and religious connotations—an image of preparation and cleanliness, perhaps for a ritual meal or a spiritual gathering. However, this image also underscores emptiness, as the cloud "makes heaven emptier." This sense of emptiness intensifies the contrast between the physical world and the transcendent, suggesting that even in the vastness of heaven, there is a void, as if something essential is missing.

Walcott brings the reader into a specific moment of stillness—"after-dinner Sundays / when the Bible begs to be lifted." This scene is rich with ritualistic tradition, evoking the quiet solemnity of a post-Sabbath meal when religious practices, such as reading the Bible, are expected to resume. Yet, the speaker's description of the Bible as "begging to be lifted" implies a sense of reluctance or obligation, as though the act of engaging with scripture has become a burden rather than a source of comfort. This is immediately followed by the invocation of "old terrifying verses" that evoke fear and awe, particularly those depicting the desolate, punishing landscapes of the Bible.

The reference to "sandstorm and bone-white Palestinian rocks" conjures an ancient, harsh environment. This desert landscape is emblematic of the biblical world—a place of trials, prophecies, and divine wrath. The image of "a ram tottering for purchase, bleating like Isaiah" invokes the story of the sacrifice of Isaac, with the ram caught in the thicket as a substitute for the boy. The bleating of the ram, likened to the voice of Isaiah, is a cry for stability and understanding in a world of divine mysteries and harsh judgments. The "dry rage of the desert fathers" suggests the stern, ascetic spirituality of early Christian hermits, whose uncompromising faith could inspire both reverence and fear in a child.

The poem transitions into an acknowledgment of how these religious images and practices have shaped the speaker's past. The "Baptist crying by the cracked river basin" evokes John the Baptist, a figure who, like Isaiah, calls for repentance and spiritual renewal in a barren, unforgiving environment. The curses associated with this prophetic tradition "made the rose an intellectual fire," transforming something as delicate as a flower into a symbol of spiritual intensity and intellectual rigor. The rose, traditionally a symbol of beauty and love, becomes a representation of the burning, consuming force of faith.

In the next lines, Walcott introduces the image of the "skull's stone eyes," which may refer to the skull as a symbol of death and mortality. Through these "stone eyes," the "radiant logwood / consumes this August," bringing the poem back to the present moment in the Caribbean, where the speaker observes the heat and intensity of the tropical landscape. The "white sun" sucking "sweat from the desert" mirrors the oppressive, relentless forces of nature and time. This shift from biblical imagery to the physical realities of the present connects the past and the present, the sacred and the mundane, while also suggesting that the intensity of faith and its rituals have lost some of their meaning in the speaker's life.

The line "A shadow marks the Word" introduces a sense of doubt or ambiguity. While the "Word" refers to scripture or divine truth, the presence of a shadow implies that this truth is obscured or difficult to grasp. The speaker confesses, "I have forgotten a child's hope of the resurrection," suggesting that the faith that once promised salvation and renewal has faded over time. The "bodies locked up in musting cupboard drawers" evoke the dead, stored away and forgotten, waiting for the resurrection that may never come. The image of these bodies hidden "among the fish knives and the napery" speaks to the domestication and ritualization of death, as the remnants of life are tucked away alongside the tools of daily living.

The cloud, introduced in the opening lines, "waits in emptiness for the apostles," invoking the expectation of a divine event or revelation. However, instead of apostles, the poem offers more mundane symbols—"fruit, wine amphoras, mutton on groaning trestles"—suggesting the material and sensual aspects of life that have replaced spiritual transcendence. This depiction of a feast highlights the contrast between physical satisfaction and spiritual fulfillment, as the former takes the place of the latter in the speaker's experience.

The poem concludes with a glimmer of hope, embodied in the figure of a servant: "but only the servant knows heaven is still possible." This "freckled Martha," named after the biblical figure who served Jesus, represents humble faith and devotion. Martha, who "radiant, dependable," sings "a hymn from your childhood," symbolizes a connection to the past and to a simpler, more authentic faith. The final image of her "folding her Savior like a white napkin in the earth" is poignant and layered with meaning. The act of folding a napkin, often associated with care and order, becomes a symbol of putting away or preparing for something to come. The Savior, folded into the earth, echoes burial, but the gesture is gentle, suggesting that resurrection or renewal is still possible, though deferred.

In "Midsummer: 21," Walcott weaves together personal memory, religious symbolism, and existential reflection to explore the loss and lingering presence of faith. The poem captures the speaker's ambivalence toward religious traditions that once terrified and inspired, while also offering a glimmer of hope in the figure of Martha, whose simple faith endures. Through rich imagery and layered metaphors, Walcott presents a meditation on the complexities of belief, the passage of time, and the possibility of spiritual renewal.

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