Derek Walcott: Sea Grapes

Poem Title

Original Publication

CP Page no

Sea Grapes

Sea Grapes, New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1976

297

Allusion to Classical figure Odysseus, Nausicaa, Cyclops

Allusion to Classical place Aegean, Troy

Relationship to Classical text The classical model is presented as a medium through which to question, though unfulfilling in its own right.

Further Comment Reflecting that ‘The ancient war/ between obsession and responsibility/ will never finish’, the poem concludes ‘The classics can console. But not enough’. Classical pairings, such as Odysseus and Penelope, are often used to signify tension and ideological rifts, rather than authority, in Walcott’s poetry.