Derek Walcott: Hurucan

Poem Title

Original Publication

CP Page no

Hurucan

 

The Fortunate Traveller, New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1981

423-26

Allusion to Classical figure Cyclops and an unnamed ‘northern messenger’ who strikes with a lightening trident.

Allusion to Classical place Marathon

Classical/post-Classical intertexts The Mayan deity Hurucan is the main subject of the poem; the scant classical referents are suggested briefly, as supporting metaphors, or rejected as imposters.

Further Comment Hurucan insists on the recognition of his unique cultural identity (‘you abhor/ all other parallels/ but our own’).