When someone sits in the dark, gasping for brightness, trying to be happy in life, what would they be going through? The Saint Lucian poet, Derek Walcott, dealt with many struggles growing up; he was trained as a painter but became a writer as a young man. Walcott divided his time between Boston, New York, and Saint Lucia. His first poem was published in the newspaper at the age of 14. Walcott’s writing is based on mental illness and his life’s struggles. Walcott’s father had died when Walcott and his twin brother were only a few years old. He had race and identity struggles. Walcott also had many marriages that ended up in divorce. Walcott also had an Academic Career, which led to accusations with his female students after he offered advances and the female students rejected. Derek Walcott, in his poem, “The Fist,” passionately describes the pain of love like no one else.
Walcott used imagery in his poem, “The Fist,” to show how he was dealing with his struggles. He first describes how “The fist clenched round my heart loosens a little, I gasp for brightness; but it tightens again.” He is using imagery to show his audience how he feels like his chest is tightening. This is one example of many poems of his; he uses imagery because he wants his audience to see how he feels. He also says, “When have I ever not loved the pain of love? But this has moved past love to mania.” He is describing how he “loved” the pain of love, but who loves being in pain? Walcott was also describing how the love he had turned into mania, which is why his poems are about mental illness. Mania is also a symptom of bipolar disorder, showing how he was going through his love struggle.
Walcott uniquely expressed mental illness in his poem “The Fist”. For example, he writes, “I gasp / brightness; but it tightens / again.” This quote in his poem shows how he is in a dark place. Walcott is trying to express how hard it is to come out of a dark place. He also writes in his poem, “Hold hard then, heart. This way at least you live.” Walcott is showing his audience how he is trying to hold on and not give up on life. Walcott is basically explaining how he is faking it until he makes it. Walcott is hurt but decides to hide it instead of letting it consume him.
He wrote, “This has the strong / clench of the madman, this is / gripping the ledge of unreason,” basically saying he is angry, and he clenches with anger. He also wrote, “this is / gripping the ledge of unreason” signifies a state of mind being on the verge of losing sanity and control of his emotions. By using imagery, he shows his audience to feel what he is feeling, by expressing his words in a poem and helping his audience understand where he is coming from.
Overall, Walcott finds a unique way to use imagery in his poem, “The Fist”. He expresses the pain of love very passionately, and makes sure his audience understands how the speaker of the poem is feeling. Walcott is very passionate about feelings, and in most of his poems, they all have imagery, and showing off deep emotion or feeling. After reading this poem, it’s easier to see how Walcott shows the world and his audience how easy it is to feel pain, and how writing about it makes the reader feel understood.
