Nature in Derek Walcott’s Poetry and Nobel Lecture: Comfort, Concern and Beyond

Abstract

Caribbean poet and Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott (1930-2017) is more widely discussed for his poetry. In his poetry, presence of nature is dominant almost all the time. In his Nobel Lecture as well, nature occupies a large portion. Poet did see in his motherland Saint Lucia the natural landscape, pure and undisturbed by men. But later poet does see men’s ruthless destruction on Caribbean nature in the name of development activities. So, poet, being a true and wise lover of nature, cannot remain silent. He expresses his deep agony and offers a solution in a way which can preserve nature besides allowing men to do their necessary activities in the Caribbean. Thus, this paper, following the methodology of thematic analysis, aims to explore how poet Derek  Walcott, in his poetry and Nobel Lecture, expresses his feeling of comfort and concern for nature and offers the solution of a holistic approach for the preservation of nature which pertains to a deeper epistemology.