“Names” responds to the history of colonization that created contemporary St. Lucia. Without knowledge of their origins, formerly enslaved people struggle to find a sense of identity. However, by transforming the names and narratives Europeans imposed on St. Lucia, the people are able to build a powerful connection to their homeland.
In “Ruins of a Great House,” Walcott compares the legacy of European colonization in St. Lucia to the legacy of great English poetry. Although the poem rages against the violence done by the British to St. Lucia, it also finds an unexpected compassion for the English language through the beauty of poetry.
In “Love After Love,” the speaker urges their addressee to relearn how to love and know themself. The poem describes our relationships with ourselves as uniquely intimate and equal.
“Becune Point” is named after a cape on the island of St. Lucia. The poem begins by describing this beautiful place, but is soon caught up in the difficulty of describing St. Lucia without thinking both about the ancestry of its people, and the history of its colonization.
“Map of the New World” is about the difficulty of rediscovering one’s own homeland as a formerly colonized subject. It compares poetry to a ship at sea, and ultimately embraces a form of writing rooted in finding one’s way back home.
