Obituary: Derek Walcott died on March 17th
The poet of the Caribbean was 87
OVER more than five decades of producing some of the 20th century’s best poetry, Derek Walcott found many local metaphors for his trade. He was a bent astronomer, tracing out the circle of time in the singeing stars above the mango trees; the careful stenciller of a flowered window frame, or the planer of a canoe; an egret stalking the reeds, his pen’s beak “plucking up wriggling insects/like nouns and gulping them”.
This article appeared in the Obituary section of the print edition under the headline “Songs of the sea”
Obituary April 1st 2017
From the April 1st 2017 edition
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