Landfall, Grenada

This is a free verse elegiac poem dedicated to Robert Head, a friend of Derek Walcott’s. As such, this poem is filled with maritime imagery to reflect Head’s occupation, as he was a mariner during his lifetime. Walcott does not romanticise the ocean but, rather, takes a practical view of it. This is in keeping with the attitude Walcott attributes to Head. In this way, it acts as a fitting tribute to him. The poet seems to think that the usual form of elegiac remarks would not be fitting for his friend. Therefore, he uses restraint in a way that he believes is fitting when remembering the life of his stoic companion.

Landfall, Grenada
Derek Walcott

Where you are rigidly anchored, the groundswell of blue foothills, the blown canes surging to cumuli cannot be heard; like the slow, seamless ocean, one motion folds the grass where you were lowered, and the tiered sea whose grandeurs you detested climbs out of sound. (...)

Read the full text to 'Landfall, Grenada'.

Summary

‘Landfall, Grenada’ offers a restrained tribute to the mariner Robert Head, a friend of the poet. Walcott employs ocean imagery and metaphors to remember the man and commemorate his death.

The name of the poem itself holds significance, with “landfall” representing a destination, serving as a metaphor for death. The poem opens by mixing images of the land and the ocean as the poet regards the place where the man is buried. Despite the fact that the man was a mariner, the poet mentions that he was not someone who loved the ocean.

By not sticking to a rigid structure, the poem flows more naturally. As the poet describes scenes of the natural world – both fields and the ocean – the reader gets a sense of nature in the flow of the poem. The first stanza is the shortest, at only eight lines long. This stanza discusses the man’s funeral, comparing images of the land with images of the ocean. There is also a brief mention of clouds, bringing all of the natural world together around the man. At the end of the stanza, his feelings toward the ocean are mentioned. This leads into the next stanza.

The next stanza, which is seventeen lines long, looks in more detail at the man himself. The poet highlights how the man held a detached and emotionless view of the ocean. He viewed it as a place to work. It was not a place that he loved. With that in mind, the poet compares this to the man’s attitude to his own death. He seemed to see that in a similarly detached way. The poet admires this way of thinking, and he wishes that he could see things in a similar manner. Walcott discusses the man’s views of the ocean and how he applied this to the world around him. If the first stanza served as an introduction, this stanza provides the main ideas of the man’s elegy, leading up to the conclusion where the poet expresses his admiration for the deceased.

Expert Commentary

Insights by Giles Towler

BA (Hons) in History and English Literature from Manchester University

'Landfall, Grenada' is a poem that paints an impressive picture of the natural world in the opening lines before demonstrating impressive restraint. Walcott is praising a friend of his who has died and expressing the way that he wishes to learn from the man. The attitude that this man had to life is demonstrated through metaphors, and the poet applies this outlook to his writing, delivering a restrained tribute that is not overly emotional and seems as though it is something that is in keeping with the dead man's outlook.

Structure and Form

This free verse poem comprises of two stanzas, with the first being an octet and he second spanning seventeen lines. The poem does not have any strict structure to it, with both stanzas being different lengths. There is no rhyming pattern to the poem and no regular meter. The lines differ in length, and the poet uses enjambment to run one line into the next. This form lends itself well to the poem, as it helps to give the reader a sense of the natural world that is being described.

While elegiac in nature, this poem does not strictly adhere to the form of an elegy. This is due to Walcott’s desire to reflect his friend in this memorial, not confining his memory to a boilerplate form.

Literary Devices

Walcott uses a number of literary devices when describing the ocean as well as his friend’s relationship to it. Imagery is one of the most important literary devices, and the poet also uses alliteration, metaphor, symbolism, consonance, repetition, and enjambment throughout the poem.

• Imagery: In the first stanza, the poet uses imagery as a way to convey the power and vastness of nature. The hills swell to the clouds, and the ocean is “seamless”. These images make the natural world seem as though it is without end. The images of the ocean and land become mixed, showing that they are all part of a greater whole.
• Metaphors: The poet uses maritime metaphors, linking the deceased man’s life to the imagery that they are presenting. The metaphor of the deceased man being “rigidly anchored” represents the finality of death. Comparing the man’s death to a “log entry” shows the acceptance with which he accepted it, seeing it as just another event in the course of the natural world.
• Symbolism: As well as these metaphors, the poet also uses maritime symbolism in the poem. The title uses “landfall” to symbolize a final destination, meaning death. The ocean itself can also be seen as representing death, vast, unknowable, and indifferent. Its power is something that cannot be denied.
• Consonance: This is used in the first stanza, with the sibilant “slow, seamless ocean”. The use of consonance adds a sense of rhythm to the poem, as well as emphasis. The repeated “s” sound is often used to infer a sense of calm, mimicking the sound of the waves. Using the repeated “c” sound in”calm” and “casual” also emphasizes the nature of the ocean. There are other instances where the poet uses other forms of repetition as well.
• Enjambment: This helps to give the poem a natural flow. As one line runs into the next, the poem seems to have an almost wave-like rhythm to it.

Detailed Analysis

Lines 1-2

Where you are rigidly anchored,

the groundswell of blue foothills, (…)

The poem begins by utilising direct address, speaking directly to Robert Head through the pronoun “you”. This creates a sense of intimacy and connection between Walcott and Head, as the memorial of the mariner is addressed to him directly. Walcott uses this connection to praise Head for the virtues he displayed in life, perhaps expressing the appreciation which went unspoken during his lifetime. As such, this poem begins with a tone of sorrow and regret.

Rather than referring to Head’s ship being “rigidly anchored”, Walcott uses the pronoun “you”. Through implied metaphor, this transforms Head’s body into a vessel – carrying him through the journeys of life. It becomes clear that the “Where” of Head’s anchoring is his grave, never to move again. As such, the adverb “rigidly” is an allusion to the state of his body, as corpses enter a stage of rigor.

The word “rigidly” may also be a pun, hinting at Head’s uncompromising views of life.

Despite the sailing metaphor, it is clear that this scene is set on land. However, Walcott describes the “foothills” as “blue” – coupled with the word “groundswell”, this transforms the land into the sea through imagery. The poet brings different parts of the natural world together in one image.

This can also be a reference to a “groundswell” of opinion, giving the impression that this poem will show a growing, swelling opinion or emotion within the poet. This contrasts with the stoicism that is shown later. In fact, the opinion that the poet wants to share is more about the poet’s admiration for the deceased man’s stoic attitude.

Lines 2-5

(…) the blown canes

surging to cumuli cannot be heard;

like the slow, seamless ocean,

one motion folds the grass where you were lowered,

The “blown canes” continue the description of these foothills. It likely refers to a plant called the arundo donax, a type of reed. These often grow by water, which reinforces the maritime theming. It is also worth noting that these plants feature prominently in another of Walcott’s poems, ‘Sea Canes’. It features similar themes of loss, particularly in relation to the poet’s friends.

The idea of these canes “surging” to the “cumuli” (clouds) suggests movement and action, as they are personified. However, the poet reveals that this surge cannot be heard. This highlights the difference between this landscape and the ocean: the ocean, of course, can be heard. This is underlined by the use of sibilant consonance when discussing the ocean: “slow, seamless ocean”. Its depiction here makes it seem as though it is an inevitable force that cannot be denied, despite its slow motion.

It continues on for as far as the eye can see, as it is without any “seams”, which likens it to fabric through an implied metaphor. The connection here between the land and the ocean could be a symbolic representation of the connection between life and death, as the deceased man moves from one to the other. This is reinforced through a simile, in which the movement of the grass is compared to that of the ocean during the man’s funeral. Though he had a connection to the sea, he is now “rigidly anchored” in the earth.

Lines 6-8

and the tiered sea

whose grandeurs you detested

climbs out of sound.

Through the implicit connection between the man and the sea, the adjective “tiered” applies to him as well. Just as seas have different depths, this man also possessed more depth than what he presented to the world. This, in a way, foreshadows what will follow in the poet’s dedication to him, as he will later suggest that there were greater complexities lying under the surface of his friend’s outward image.

The symbolism of the sea as a vast and undeniable force shows the power of nature, but also serves as a way to demonstrate the vast and unknowable nature of life. This is heightened by the description of the sea as “tiered”, underlining the deep, complex philosophies which run underneath.

The sea’s “grandeurs” are mentioned, which is a way of complimenting it. However, this is juxtaposed with the idea that the Head “detested” these “grandeurs”. Nature has been presented as something vast and magnificent, but the following stanza will depict it in a different way. It is telling that Walcott simply describes the scene up to this point, without offering any real commentary of his own about how he feels about it.

The final line personifies the sea, as it “climbs” from the “sound”. This conjures auditory imagery, as the climbing of the sea indicates its rising volume. It becomes more than sound – perhaps even antagonistic in Head’s life. While he was indifferent to the sea itself, the idea of it having “grandeur” was not in keeping with Head’s practical view of it, which is expanded upon in the subsequent lines.

Lines 9-13

Its moods held no mythology

(…)

casual certainty,

The personification of the sea is furthered through the attribution of “moods”, creating a sense of personality, as it can be “calm” or temperamental. It is implied that these “moods” hold significance for others, perhaps through superstition or other beliefs. This sense of romanticism is highlighted through the alliteration in “moods” and “mythology”.

The absence of this belief in the man is emphasised through the use of enjambment, which separates the clause “for you” from the previous line. He possesses none of the romantic delusions about the sea that others do, demonstrating his practical, unfeeling perception of the place in which he spent so much of his life.

As Walcott explains the sea from Head’s point of view, it becomes almost diminutive – reduced to “tonnage” and the “stars” above. This emphasises its nature as a workplace, with head becoming increasingly disenchanted with it.

Like the sea, the stars hold “no mythology” or romance for Head either. A sense of order is established through the word “ruled”, which when paired with discussions of a workplace, infers a sense of management. The stars, too, are doing their job at sea, as the word “ruled” works as a double entendre: they can be measured with a ruler or scale to navigate.

The absence of any romance, mythology, or superstition in Head’s world view also suggests something about his view of death: practical, unfeeling, and somewhat indifferent. This is reflected in the alliterative line “casual certainty”, as Head chooses his “landfall”. Through an implied metaphor, this “landfall” becomes death itself, marking a final destination, yet Head remains “casual” and “calm”. This establishes the stoic demeanour Walcott praises throughout the poem.

Lines 14-15

calm as that race

into whose heart your harboured;

These two lines seem to suggest that this calmness and certainty is an attribute specific to mariners, who are consequently different from normal men – a different “race”. However, the use of the word “race” can also be seen as a metaphor for life. A race has a beginning and an end, and the man settled into this particular race – or, way of life – and now the race has come to an end with his death.

The mention of the harbour here is another nautical metaphor. The harbour is a literal safe home for ships, reflecting the belonging Head found in this world.

Lines 16-19

your death was a log’s entry,
your suffering held the strenuous
reticence of those
whose rites are never public,

Nautical metaphors continue as Walcott looks at the way Head regarded his own death. By comparing it to an entry in a logbook, the poet is showing the stoic attitude that the man had. A logbook on a ship would be where data is recorded in a dispassionate manner. This suggests that he viewed his own death in the same way.

An added meaning can be seen here in the idea that a “log” is also a part of a felled tree. It is a dead part of the tree, and so this works as another metaphorical representation of death.

The anaphoric repetition of “your” at the start of the first two lines here emphasizes the personal nature of Head’s death and suffering to Walcott, yet Head remains indifferent. It was his death and his suffering, but he kept these things as private as he could. They belonged to him, rather than being shared with others. This reinforces his characterisation as a stoic person, as he endured his suffering and mortality alone.

The man suffered before his death, which is emphasised through the sibilance of “suffering”, “strenuous”, and “reticence”; but he did so with “reticence,” or reserve. However, the idea of this being “strenuous / reticence” suggests that this was an effort to him, as though the suffering was so great that he struggled to maintain his usual reserve. The continuous nature of this effort is emphasised through the enjambment of “strenuous” and “reticence”. This raises the question of whether he was more reserved than he should have been, and whether he should have admitted more about his suffering. Through this, Walcott expresses his retrospective desire to have been allowed to comfort his friend in his final days, months, or years.

Walcott compares this reticence to “those whose rites are never made public”, inferring that Head was completely alone. This alludes to those who have no friends or family to mourn their death, emphasising Head’s solitary nature.

Lines 20-21

hating to impose, to offend.

Deep friend, (…)

Walcott suggests that Head’s stoicism could have come from a desire not to impose or offend. The man would rather suffer in silence rather than feel as though he were a burden to others. This hints at the motivation behind his stoicism, one which is markedly emotive. The idea of “offending” someone with his suffering might sound strange, but it seems as though the man simply did not want to upset anyone. He wanted his suffering and dying to be a private act.

Walcott now addresses Head with some emotion of his own. He speaks to him with affection, calling him “Deep friend.” This is the closest that the poet comes to overt emotion here, and even this is quite restrained. There is a pun on “Deep” here, as it continues the depiction of Head as being “tiered” – full of unseen virtue – but it is also a nautical pun, calling him “Deep” like the sea.

Lines 21-23

(…) teach me to learn

(…)

such mocking tolerance of those

The restraint of emotion exhibited by Walcott is unusual for an elegy, but it is a fitting tribute for Head. Walcott asks his friend to “teach me to learn / such ease”, a request which is almost oxymoronic, as this “ease” can only be achieved through two stages of learning. The mariner is dead, so the poet could be asking that he can learn from the lessons of his life, or he could be speaking to his spirit. Due to the practical nature of much of the poem, it seems more likely that it is the former. He wants the man’s life lessons to guide him to a place where he can learn such attitudes.

The “landfall” has come to symbolize death in the poem, as a final resting place. Here, the poet is stating that he wants to approach death with the same attitude as his friend. As such, this is an expression of Walcott’s grief: he implies that he is profoundly affected by death, unable to treat it with indifference or nonchalance. This reflects his reaction of Head’s death.

Through the anaphoric repetition of “such” in a tricolon, the poet shows admiration for Head’s qualities. It communicates a sense of awe as Walcott struggles to comprehend how Head conducted himself with “such ease”.

The mariner’s tolerance for approaching death had a sense of “mocking” about it, as though his indifference was better characterised as contempt. Head’s “mocking tolerance” can also be seen as his acceptance of the attitude others would have towards his own death. Though he had contempt for it, he reluctantly accepted it, perhaps to facilitate their healing.

Lines 24-25

neat gravestone elegies

that rhyme our end.

The way Head regarded death is juxtaposed with “neat graveside elegies”. These are seen as more clichéd and regular tributes, told in rhyme to express sentiments at someone’s death. The poet wants to learn this way of seeing death, not just so that he can approach life in a similar way, but so that he can write a suitable tribute to his friend, not a typical rhyming elegy. And, with the form of this poem, Walcott seems to have achieved this.

Gravestones are a popular symbol of death, rendering Head’s nonchalance about them as nonchalance about death as a whole. The idea of the rhyming elegy could also be seen as other people attempting to find some kind of reason behind what was happening, or some deeper understanding of death, while the man just accepted it. If a poem with rhymes in it has a sense of order, the man did not feel the need to find any reason or deeper understanding of death. He accepted it for what it was. This circles back to the way that he approached the ocean. If others tried to find some deeper meaning to it in mythology, he simply accepted it. In this way, the final description of the graveside elegies looks back to the oceanic metaphors from earlier in the poem.

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