The Prodigal

A Poem

Fiction & Literature, Poetry
Cover of the book The Prodigal by Derek Walcott, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Derek Walcott ISBN: 9781466880412
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publication: September 9, 2014
Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Language: English
Author: Derek Walcott
ISBN: 9781466880412
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication: September 9, 2014
Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Language: English

Do not diminish in my memory
villages of absolutely no importance,
... Hoard, cherish
your negligible existence, your unrecorded history
of unambitious syntax, your clean pools
of unpolluted light over close stones.

The Prodigal is a journey through physical and mental landscapes, from Greenwich Village to the Alps, Pescara to Milan, Germany to Cartagena. But always in "the music of memory, water," abides St. Lucia, the author's birthplace, and the living sea. In his new work, Derek Walcott has created a sweeping yet intimate epic of an exhausted Europe studded with church spires and mountains, train stations and statuary, where the New World is an idea, a "wavering map," and where History subsumes the natural history of his "unimportantly beautiful" island home. Here, the wanderer fears that he has been tainted by his exile, that his life has become untranslatable, and that his craft itself is rooted in betrayal of the vivid archipelago to which, like Antaeus, he must return for the very sustenance of life.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Do not diminish in my memory
villages of absolutely no importance,
... Hoard, cherish
your negligible existence, your unrecorded history
of unambitious syntax, your clean pools
of unpolluted light over close stones.

The Prodigal is a journey through physical and mental landscapes, from Greenwich Village to the Alps, Pescara to Milan, Germany to Cartagena. But always in "the music of memory, water," abides St. Lucia, the author's birthplace, and the living sea. In his new work, Derek Walcott has created a sweeping yet intimate epic of an exhausted Europe studded with church spires and mountains, train stations and statuary, where the New World is an idea, a "wavering map," and where History subsumes the natural history of his "unimportantly beautiful" island home. Here, the wanderer fears that he has been tainted by his exile, that his life has become untranslatable, and that his craft itself is rooted in betrayal of the vivid archipelago to which, like Antaeus, he must return for the very sustenance of life.

More books from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Cover of the book Man Is Not Alone by Derek Walcott
Cover of the book The H. L. Hunley by Derek Walcott
Cover of the book Joey Pigza Loses Control by Derek Walcott
Cover of the book Labor of Love by Derek Walcott
Cover of the book Authority by Derek Walcott
Cover of the book A House in St John's Wood by Derek Walcott
Cover of the book The Secret of Parenting by Derek Walcott
Cover of the book Sorry! by Derek Walcott
Cover of the book Stork Mountain by Derek Walcott
Cover of the book My Parents: An Introduction / This Does Not Belong to You by Derek Walcott
Cover of the book The Loving Husband by Derek Walcott
Cover of the book How to Steal a Dog by Derek Walcott
Cover of the book Observations by Derek Walcott
Cover of the book Today I'm a Race Car Driver by Derek Walcott
Cover of the book The Challenge by Derek Walcott
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy