Collected Poems, 1948-1984

Lush and exquisite poetry

I love Walcott's poetry. He's a master with words who transports me to new depths of perception. Inspiring, touching, profound. I keep this one nearby to read a poem randomly and reflect on it all day.

When you read Derek Walcott you cannot help but be dragged into his world. It is not a world where you sit on the beach, drink a beer and listen to Jimmy Buffett all day.Instead, it is a world where life is hard. You live in a place where nature is indeed beautiful but at times unforgiving. The sun cooks you, the sand chafes you and the water drains you.In this book of collected poems, Walcott has some of his more famous poems along with relatively unknown ones. Some are like the Iliad, some are strange and need deep introspection. Either way, they all touch some part of your psyche. It is obvious that he has won so many prizes for his work, least of all the Nobel Prize. It is accessible and deep all at the same time.Good poets guide us in the story, we take what we can and allow ourselves to open up and understand the beauty of the work. Walcott is a master of the tour.-----------------------------------Excerpt from "Egypt, Tobago"There is a shattered palmon this fierce shore,its plumes the rusting helm-et of a dead warrior.Numb Antony, in the torporstretching her inertsex near him like a sleeping cat,knows his heart is the real desert.Over the dunesof her heaving,to his heart's drummingfades the mirage of the legions,across love-tousled sheets,the triremes fading.Ar the carved door of her templea fly wrings its message.He brushes a damp hairaway from an earas perfect as a sleeping child's.He stares, inert, the fallen column.He lies like a copper palmtree at three in the afternoonby a hot seaand a river, in Egypt, TobagoHer salt marsh dries in the heatwhere he founderedwithout armor.He exchanged an empire for her beads of sweat,the uproar of arenas,the changing surfof senators, forthis silent ceiling over silent sand -this grizzled bear, whose fur,moulting, is silvered -for this quick fox with hersweet stench. By sleep dismembered,his headis in Egypt, his feetin Rome, his groin a deserttrench with its dead soldier.-----------------------------------Highly recommended.Thank you for reading my review.

I read a poem in O'magazine a few years ago and was in the process of throwing out some magazines for recycling and thought I'd better look through them and see if I should re-read any of the articles. When I got to the poem, titled Love After Love I just stopped. I couldn't believe that I had only breezed through it and put it aside. I tore the page out of the magazine and also made copies. I LOVED THIS POEM!! It did something to me when I read it,.. and I can read it over and over again and get the same feeling. I finally decided to google the author and locate the poem. Amazon.com had tons of info and the book, so I bought it and I never buy anything online. This book has been worth it. Every poem is simply incredible, but my favorite will always be 'Love After Love'.

A brilliant poet...read it.

I was so pleased when I received this book to see how beautiful it is. The collection of poems is impressive, covering many years. I love Derek Walcott, he is one of my favorite poets, and this collection certainly does his work justice.

This is a wonderful book of poetry and the author is a Nobel Prize winner in Litterature.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video. I believe I explain why I chose and love this poem sufficiently in the video. Almost all of Walcott's poems are quite entrancing and heart-breakingly beautiful whilst also erudite and profound. --- Oh yes, I did leave this bit out: The scarf I'm wearing has the Venezuelan flag on it. It was a present, and I was chilly today. I didn't get it from Hugo himself, but it was bought in Venezuela.

I bought this book as I am writing my Masters' Dissertation on Walcott. I absolutely love his poetry, his dynamic use of language and imagery, and his refreshing approach. This is a wonderful collection with a good range of poems not found elsewhere. Unfortunately, however, I am unhappy with the book itself as it has started to fall apart just two months after I purchased it. I noticed early on that pages around the middle of the book were delicate and could potentially fall out. Now, over twenty pages have come away from the binding. Although I am using this edition a lot, I am always careful with books and am unhappy with the overall quality of the paperback. My 3/5 review is in no way a reflection of the poetry but rather a disappointment at the quality of the production.

beautiful writer, and an admirable collection of the writer's back catalogue, but sometimes it can be a bit difficult to differentiate between sections of time and books. arrived in decent time, as described, good purchase

Excellent

Excellent service. Excellent product

Have just started to read but it is superb and am enjoying it tremendously