Summary of the poem ruins of a great house by derek walcott
Answers
Derek Walcott’s poem “Ruins of a Great House” starts with the description of a ruined colonial mansion. He described the mansion by using such metaphors which show the decay and death of that place that once used to be a lively place. Trees and plants used to grow their in the past but now they have become lifeless. These are the remnants of that time when this house was used as a plantation for the business of slavery in 19th century.
The speaker of the poem is reminded of how Rudyard Kipling in his writings talked about the decline of British Empire and justified the subjugation of the colonized people by quoting references from Bible. He compares the era of colonization with a stinking lime that reeked like deadly slave ships.
The stench of those times is still there and the speaker feels it although the slaveholders have died long ago. He recalls words of John Donne that death of a single man diminished everyone who’s living. His lines fill up the speaker with compassion more than anger and he looks around at the ruins of the house which remind him now of not only those slaves but the death of their masters too.
In ‘Ruins of a Great House’ by Derek Walcott, the narrator is standing in front of a ruined house and is recalling the past times when the house was in its prime, full of lavish architecture and aristocracy.
Then he acknowledges that the house flourished out of slavery and wickedness, but still he looks at the ruins with pity and as a tragedy.