Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Six Fictions: 6/Manet in Martinique," Derek Walcott explores the complex interplay between colonial history, personal memory, and the remnants of European culture in the Caribbean. The poem reflects on the lasting influence of European art, literature, and colonialism in Martinique, a place described as a "false métropole," where the echoes of French culture linger in a suspended and somewhat melancholic state. Through detailed imagery, Walcott juxtaposes the material and emotional residue of colonialism with a sense of personal displacement and longing. The poem’s central focus on an overstuffed, stagnant salon serves as a metaphor for the layers of cultural and historical memory that weigh heavily on the present.

The opening lines establish the setting with a description of the teak plant, "stiff as rubber," positioned near the "iron railing of the pink veranda." The rigidity of the plant and the iron railing create a sense of stasis, foreshadowing the themes of immobility and stagnation that permeate the poem. The veranda leads into a "tenebrous, overstuffed salon," filled with objects and relics that reflect a bygone era. The mention of a "sailing ship in full course through wooden waves" suggests a decorative piece, emblematic of colonial exploration and trade, frozen in time. The ship, stiff and motionless, represents both the literal voyages of colonialism and the metaphorical journey of cultural displacement, where objects are stripped of their vitality and reduced to mere symbols.

Walcott’s description of the salon is filled with objects that evoke nostalgia for a lost or distant European past: "bearded grandpapa and black-bunned grandmère," "pillows with tassels," "porcelains," and "souvenirs." These items, though once meaningful, now seem inert and lifeless, "like prose that had lost its bouquet." The references to Lafcadio Hearn, Flaubert, and other literary figures emphasize the lingering influence of European intellectual culture, yet these works, too, seem to have lost their vibrancy, reduced to mere relics. The "one white rose of immortal wax" further symbolizes the artificial preservation of a past that no longer breathes life into the present. The image of the wax rose—beautiful but ultimately lifeless—serves as a metaphor for the way colonial and European culture has been preserved in Martinique, but in a way that feels artificial and disconnected from the vibrant reality of the island.

As the host leaves to make a phone call, the speaker is left alone in the salon, overwhelmed by "an immeasurable sadness for the ship’s sails, for the stagnant silence of objects." The ship’s sails, once a symbol of movement and adventure, now hang lifelessly, reflecting the stasis and melancholy that pervade the scene. The "mute past" carried by these objects weighs heavily on the speaker, evoking a sense of historical and cultural dislocation. The glimpse of "Fort-de-France harbor through lattices" connects the interior space of the salon with the outside world, yet this connection only serves to heighten the sense of separation. The harbor, visible yet distant, symbolizes the speaker’s longing for something beyond the confines of the salon and its frozen memories.

Walcott introduces the voice of Baudelaire with the line, "Notre âme est un trois-mâts cherchant son Icarie"—a reference to Baudelaire’s notion of the soul as a three-masted ship searching for an unattainable utopia (Icarie). This quote deepens the poem’s exploration of wandering and displacement, as the soul’s quest for an ideal is mirrored by the ship’s journey across the seas of memory and history. The speaker, like Baudelaire’s ship, is caught in a state of longing, searching for something that may never be found, whether it be a sense of belonging, a connection to the past, or an escape from the stagnant present.

The phrase "false métropole of Martinique" highlights the tension between the island’s colonial history and its present identity. Martinique, once a French colony, still bears the marks of European influence, but these influences feel out of place, as though the island is attempting to recreate a metropolitan European culture that no longer fits. The fan stirring "one of Maupassant’s tales" adds to this sense of a half-remembered, half-forgotten Europe, where even the air seems to carry traces of a distant literary past.

The speaker then reflects on the absence of spirit in the house, sensing that the salon is "trying to recall all it could of Paris." This attempt to recapture the grandeur and elegance of Paris feels strained, as though the memories of the French capital are fading and becoming disconnected from the reality of life in Martinique. The speaker turns away from the wall, where the "gilt-framed clipper" ship hangs—a symbol of colonial exploration and nostalgia—and instead focuses on the physical surroundings, noting the "stiff rubber leaves" and the "charged afternoon air." These elements of the natural world, though still, seem to hold more life and energy than the objects in the salon, suggesting that the true vitality of Martinique lies outside the confines of European art and culture.

The poem’s final image, of a "red satin slipper" unsheathed from its "marble foot," introduces a sensual, almost erotic element to the otherwise stagnant scene. The slipper, vibrant and alive in contrast to the lifeless wax rose and frozen ship, hints at the possibility of desire, movement, and life beneath the layers of cultural stasis. The slipper’s presence suggests that there is still something of value to be found in this space, a remnant of vitality amidst the overstuffed relics of the past.

In "Six Fictions: 6/Manet in Martinique," Derek Walcott explores the tension between colonial history and the present, between European cultural influence and the lived reality of the Caribbean. Through the imagery of the salon and its lifeless objects, the poem reflects on the weight of the past and the difficulty of moving beyond it. The speaker’s sadness and sense of displacement are mirrored in the static, frozen atmosphere of the house, yet the final image of the red satin slipper offers a glimmer of life and potential amidst the melancholy. Walcott’s exploration of memory, culture, and identity in this poem reveals the complexities of postcolonial experience, where the past is always present, but not always welcome.

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