School/movement = FORMALISM Key Words:Culture, hybridity, identity, origin, in-betweenness, dilemma CONTEXT

Derek Walcot (1930- March 2017) o TITLE: idiom: “a far cry” = an impossible thing.

A Far Cry from Africa 1962 Post-Colonial
A) title suggests poet writes about African subject from a distance. He feels he =a vast distance- literally & metaphorically from Africa.  Kenya: The British government then took over administration in 1895,
• Born & died in Saint Lucia, the West Indies. Being well-educated = distance from conditions in Africa. calling the area a “protectorate.”
• His grandmothers = both black, & both grandfathers = white. B) meaning the real state of the African ‘paradise’ = far cry from the Africa we read about in descriptions of gorgeous fauna & flora.
 Mau Mau Uprising: extended & bloody battle, which began in 1952, It was 
Had a twin brother C) idea of Walcot hearing the poem as a far cry coming all the way across 10000 of miles of ocean - cry coming to him on the wind.
o Theme: Split personality. Ethnic conflict & divided loyalties. put down — some say in 1953, 1956, or 1960 — without a treaty, yet the 
• 1st published poem, “1944” = 14 years old (44 lines of blank verse). 
 
British did leave Kenya in 1963. 
• 19 years old: Self-published 2 volumes, 25 Poems (1948) & Epitaph  Agonizing & didactic personal poem
 
 The state of emergency finally ended end in 1960, likely well after W. 
for the Young: XII Cantos (1949) (influenced by fx Shakespeare, T. S.  o A Far Cry from Africa by Derek Walcot deals with the theme of split identity & anxiety caused by it in the face of the struggle in which
Eliot & Ezra Pound). finished writing poem. Presid. Kenyatta: released from prison in 1961.
the poet could side w neither party. About the poet’s ambivalent feelings towards the Kenyan terrorists & the counter-terrorist white
• Attended the University of the West Indies. colonial government, both of which were 'inhuman', during the independence struggle of the country in the 1950s. The persona,  During uprising btw European settlers & the native Kikuyu tribe in what is 
• 1951 published the volume Poems. now the republic of Kenya. Early 20th century, first white settlers arrived, 
probably the poet himself, can take favour of none of them since both bloods circulate along his veins. It is the violence of Mau Mau
• 1957awarded a fellowship by the Rockefeller Foundation to study  forcing the Kikuyu people off of their tribal lands. Europeans took control of 
that most disturbs Walcot, apparently because it makes Africans look even worse than their Brit-ish oppressors
the American theatre.  farmland & the government, relegating the Kikuyu to a subservient 
• Published numerous collections of poetry in lifetime fx The Poetry of o He has an English tongue which he loves & same time, can’t tolerate the brutal slaughter of Africans w whom he shares blood & tradi-
position. One faction of the Kikuyu people formed Mau Mau, a terrorist 
Derek Walcott 1948-2013), White Egrets (2010), Selected Poems  tions. His conscience forbids him to favour injustice. He =state of indecisiveness, troubled, wishing peace & harmony in the region. organization intent on purging all European influence from the country, but 
(2007), The Prodigal: A Poem (2004), Tiepolo’s Hound (2000). o Walcot = pro-African & pro-Kikuyu but anti-Mau Mau, is pro-English (as in culture & language) but anti-British (as in colonialism), an less strident Kikuyus attempted to either remain neutral or help the British 
• He founded ‘Trinidad Theater Workshop’ +  also wrote several plays  outsider to the conflict, but an insider in the sense that within his body exist both English & African blood. While both pro-revolution- defeat Mau Mau.
produced throughout US: The Odyssey: A Stage Version (1992);  nary & anti-violent, he cannot defend the uprising or completely condemn it  1 murder = reported of a 4,5 old white child. On March 1953 (Lari 
• 1st collection of essays, What the Twilight Says: published in 1998.
o Animal imagery: important feature. Violence of the nature or “natural law” of animals killing each other to eat & survive is acceptable; Massacre) Mau Maus killed 97 Kikuyu men, women, & children, for 
• Walcott won many honours the Queen’s Medal for Poetry. “Sir”
Beasts come out beter than “upright man” since animals do what they must do, any do not seek divinity through inflicting pain. collaborating w the British.
• In 1992, Walcott = first Caribbean writer to receive the 1992 Nobel 
Prize in Literature. o Walcot feels foreign in both cultures due to his mixed blood. His hybrid heritage prevents him from identifying directly w one culture.  Saint Lucia: From 1958 to 1962, the island: Member of the Federation of the 
• 2015: received the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry’s Lifetime   creates a feeling of isolation. West Indies. Associated State from March 1967; Independence from the UK 
Achievement Award.  o Just as the uprising was never cleanly resolved, Walcot, at least within the poem, never resolves his conflict about whose side to take Feb. 1979  16 years after Kenya gained independence.
• During the period of greatest Mau Mau activity, Walcott was   Spanish Civil War (1936–39): military revolt against the Spanish Repub-lican 
o He portrays the cruel imperialistic exploits of the British without creating sympathy for the African tribesmen.
attending university in Jamaica. government. When an initial military coup failed to win control of the entire 
o An unfavourable description of the British: “Only the worm, colonel of carrion cries/ ‘waste no compassion on their separated dead'.”
country, a bloody civil war ensued, fought w great ferocity on both sides. 
W. uses diction, ambiguity, imagery, juxtaposition, structure, & conflict  ‘colonel’ = a punning on ‘colonial’ ! The Nationalists (rebels) received aid f Fascist Italy & Nazi Germany. The 
to show implications of the violent persecutions & injustice of European  o
At the time poem = writen, the island of St. Lucia = still a colony of Great Britain. Republicans received aid from Soviet Union, as well as from International 
colonization of Africa & the residual problems that remain far after the 
Brigades, composed of volunteers from Europe & the US. The rebels w 
end of colonial policy; namely internal struggles. Stanza 1 Powerful opening line that sets  Generalissimo Francisco Franco won.
1 A wind is ruffling the tawny pelt Enjambment(an act of hurling something at someone) the tone & motion for the whole 
   Lines 1-3= W.  tends to cover the ground he wants 
Setting on the African plain, or veldt.  2 Of Africa. Kikuyu, quick as flies Enjambment + caesura poem. Opens w a horrible scene 
of bloodshed: ‘Bloodstreams’,  to talk about point by point & some-
Africa: compared to perhaps a lion w a “tawny pelt.” (light brown-brown- 3 Batten upon the bloodstreams of the veldt. times w what we might call caricatures, 
Corpses are scattered through a paradise. ‘scattered corpses,’ ‘worm’
ish orange). Colours in photographs: light brown & yellow. 4 or images verging on caricature
“Kikuyu” - a native tribe in Kenya. – Karen Blixen/Isaac Dinesen. 5 Only the worm, colonel of carrion, cries:    caesura
 (the decaying flesh of dead animals.) COLONEL = Pun on COLONIAL.
6 ‘Waste no compassion on these separate dead!’ Lines 15-21
Idyllic portrayal of the plain quickly shifts; Kikuyu = flies (buzzing around 
7 Statistics justify & scholars seize Enjambment 6-10: the clash btw the culture of those outside the uprising & those  Animals kill merely for food & survival, but humans, having perfected the 
the “animal” of Africa) who are feeding on blood (present in large enough 
killed by it, outsiders (“scholars”) w the luxury of judging the conflict, &  skill of hunting for food, extend that violent act to other areas, using force 
amounts to create streams.) 8 The salients of colonial policy,
insiders (victims) for whom no explanation is sufficient. to exert control —superiority over — other people; they seek divinity by 
9 What is that to the white child hacked in bed?
   Lines 4-6= caesura  Expendable=Kenyans. deciding who lives & who dies. Ironically, wars btw people are described as 
10 To savages, expendable as Jews? 
Shatters image of a paradise many associate w Africa  describing a  following the beat of a drum (instrument made of animal hide stretched 
Stanza 2 His image of Africa may strike a bit  over a cylinder.) 
landscape littered w corpses. Adds a sickening detail by referring to a 
11 Threshed out by beaters, the long rushes break Enjambment (grass-like plants)  innocent, but it seems idealistic & uplifting W. says for whites, historically, peace = not the result of compromise w an 
worm living in this setting of decaying human flesh. The worm’s advise to 
12 In a white dust of ibises whose cries Enjambment opponent, but a situation arrived at because the opposition = crushed & 
“Waste no compassion on these separate dead!” is puzzling in that it 
13 Have wheeled since civilization’s dawn Enjambment cannot resist anymore.
implies the victims somehow got what they deserved.
14 From the parched river or beast-teeming plain. (be full of or swarming with.)
   Lines 7-10= 15 The violence of beast on beast is read  Lines 22-25:
Words “justify” & “colonial policy,” +  context clarifies the exact event   Enjambment Lines = difficult to interpret  appear b aimed at those judging the Mau 
16 As natural law, but upright man image that more or less generalizes the history of English, 
the Mau Mau Uprising.  Enjambment Mau uprising from a distance — observers somehow accepting brutality as 
17 Seeks his divinity by inflicting pain. European, & African wars. This powerful image: coming to the  necessary while aware of a dire situation but wiping their hands, or 
Where earlier, speaker seemed to blame the victims, he now blames  Enjambment
18 Delirious as these worried beasts, his wars penultimate point of the poem, Walcott says basically that  refusing to become involved. He seems to condemn such attitude by 
those who forced the colonial system onto Kenya & polarized the  19 Dance to the tightened carcass of a drum, everybody dances, everybody gets emotionally intoxicated w the  comparing the Mau Mau Uprising to the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). 
population. They cannot justify their actions, because their reasons will 
20 While he calls courage still that native dread  egoism of taking sides, everybody in that kind of situation is  France & Great Britain wanted to avoid another war that would engulf all 
never matter to the “white child” who has been murdered — merely  listening to a drumbeat of some kind or another.
21 Of the white peace contracted by the dead. of Europe, so they introduced a non-intervention pact that was signed by 
because of his colour — in retaliation by Mau Mau fighters or to the 
Stanza 3 27 nations. Nonetheless, the Nationalists were aided by Germany & Italy. 
“savages,” who — in as racist an attitude as was taken by Nazis against 
22 Again brutish necessity wipes its hands The Loyalists fought valiantly but outmanned, lost territory, & were 
Jews — are deemed worthless. (“Savages” = controversial term - derives  Enjambment
23 Upon the napkins of a dirty cause, again eventually defeated. Line 25 = a cynical view of the Mau Mau Uprising as 
from French word sauvage = wild,  now wholly derogatory in English.  Enjambment
just another colonial conflict where gorillas (negatively animalized
Walcott’s use of “savage” functions to present a British colonialist’s racist  24 A waste of our compassion, as with Spain, From the cultural clash on the continent of Africa, 
Africans) fight w superman - a negative characterization of Europe.
point of view.) 25 The gorilla wrestles with the superman.  the poem moves to the battlefield within the poet 
26 I who am poisoned with the blood of both, — a place less violent but more complex, since W. 
   Lines 11-14: caesura Lines 26-33
27 Where shall I turn, divided to the vein? is, at the same time, on both sides & neither side.
He returns to images of Africa’s wildlife, reminding the ibises (long-billed  Change of scene from that of Africa  that of the poet. Being a product of 
28 I who have cursed Enjambment + caesura both African & English heritage, W. is torn, because he does not know how 
wading birds) & other beasts ruled this land long before African or 
29 The drunken officer of British rule, how choose to feel about the Mau Mau struggle. Certainly is not satisfied w the stock 
European civilization existed. Describes a centuries-old hunting custom of 
natives walking in a line through the long grass & beating it to flush out  30 Between this Africa & the English tongue I love?  response of those from the outside. W. = as sickened by the behaviour of
caesura
31 Betray them both, or give back what they give?
This study source was downloaded by 100000860855576 from CourseHero.com on 02-20-2023
prey. This killing for food = set against the senseless & random death that  00:49:29 GMT -06:00 Mau Mau just as he has been disgusted by the British. By the end, the 
native Africans & European settlers perpetrate upon each other. 32 How can I face such slaughter & be cool? poet’s dilemma is not reconciled, but one gets the sense that Walcott will 
33 How can I turn from Africa & live? abandon neither Africa nor Britain
https://www.coursehero.com/file/44676773/Derek-Walcott-A-Far-Cry-From-Africapptx/
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)