The Arkansas Testament
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Book Overview
Derek Walcott's eighth collection of poems, The Arkansas Testament , is divided into two parts--"Here," verse evoking the poet's native Caribbean, and "Elsewhere." It opens with six poems in quatrains whose memorable, compact lines further Walcott's continuous effort to crystallize images of the Caribbean landscape and people. For several years, Derek Walcott has lived mainly in the United States. "The Arkansas Testament," one of the book's long poems, is a powerful confrontation of changing allegiances. The poem's crisis is the taking on of an extra history, one that challenges unquestioning devotion.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0374520992
ISBN13:9780374520991
Release Date:September 1988
Publisher:Farrar, Strauss & Giroux-3pl
Length:120 Pages
Weight:0.40 lbs.
Dimensions:0.4" x 6.0" x 8.8"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
Scintillating and rapturous
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
I gave this volume to a friend who had no experience of reading poetry (since school, that is), and had asked me what sort of poems he could start with. I pointed out a couple of poems that I thought were highlights, and wished him good luck. When I met up with him a week later, he burst into excited praise for the book. He'd started on the poems I had suggested, and rapidly proceeded to read the whole collection, several times over. I quite agree with his response - in my early 20s this was one of the books that got me excited in contemporary poets and poetry. While Walcott is not foremost an experimentalist - and he might at odd moments almost be thought a sentimentalist - his sheer joy of craft and wordsmithing is a beautiful, beautiful thing to behold. This book is one of those things that can remind you why life is worth living. It's that good.
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