A presentation by Daman Dasi

THE CASTAWAY
The poem is set in Trinidad near a beach.

Its written from the perspective of a West Indian poet

The castaway represents the poet, who belongs to neither African nor
European culture.

A shipwreck is also part of the setting (this is important, Ill talk about this
more in the next few slides.)
CONTEXT AND SETTING
There is a lot of imagery surrounding devouring of life and destruction.

The ripe brain rotting like a yellow nut
In the sun, the dogs feces crusts, whitens like coral

This imagery complements the isolation theme of the poem.

The reference to the brain rotting can represent the change in perspectives
of man, and how his ideals and greed has destroyed the world around him.
LANGUAGE
The mood of the poem is somewhat desolated and empty

The starved eye devours the seascape for the morsel of a sail

I lie, sailing the ribbed shadow of a palm

It seems as if the place is isolated and nothing exists there besides the
water and the sail.
TONE/MOOD/ATMOSPHERE
The tone of the poet can be stated as indifference, as he seems bored and
uninterested in the environment surrounding him.

Blowing sand, thin as smoke, bored, shifts its dunes.

The atmosphere set in the poem is of silence. This complements the
theme of desolation and emptiness.

Cracking a sea-louse, I make thunder split.
TONE/MOOD/ATMOSPHERE
The poem is structured in the format that each stanza has 3 verses only.
The exception to this is the first and sixth stanza.

In the first stanza, the third verse has been separated:

The horizon threads it infinitely

This verse has been separated in order to emphasize the infiniteness of
the horizon.
STRUCTURE

http://www.ocw.mit.edu/courses/literature/21l-
007j.../walcott1_castaway.pdf

http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Walcott.html

The Castaway Poem

BIBLIOGRAPHY
A presentation by Daman Dasi
THE END