There is bond between humanity and nature that is unfortunately unable to be told by either side. It either leads to biased opinions or beliefs from humans, or just information that is simply not able to be processed by humans. Despite this lack of information, there is a way that humanity can connect with all forms of life that have existed since the early formation of the planet, and that is the Ocean. In Derek Walcott’s poem The Sea is History, it tells about significant moments in time as well as scripture and how it is all tied with the environment through the sands, the tides, and the marine life. Now while history as we know it is respected and continues to be so, there is without a doubt history that was undocumented; a perspective from the people that did not have the privilege of writing down information nor accounts from their point of view leading to certain events being forgotten or lost in time.
Connections between the imagery of ships, artifacts, and events in the bible referenced by Walcott are made to showcase the undisclosed chronicles of the people that were traded and shipped overseas to places against their will,
“as the white cowries clustered like manacles
on the drowned women,
and those were the ivory bracelets
of the Song of Solomon,
but the ocean kept turning blank pages” (Line 20-24).
While history can be altered and is subject to change over time with more and more information being revealed by historians, there is no denying that there is truly no way of certifying past events truthfully, but this very statement then leads to the question of what is considered factual history and what is not? If one were to answer this from a colonialist point-of-view, there would be no denying that documented historical accounts are sacrosanct leaving very little room for other perspectives (i.e. opposing views). If this is the universal rule in regards to history, then where does that leave the history that was never written down, the history that was erased, and the information that was not believed to be true? The medium between what is believed to be true and what is believed to be fabrication is the environment and as mentioned by Walcott, “The sea. The sea has locked them up. The sea is History” (Line 3-4). To the countless number of people that have been forgotten in time, to the honorable and the broken, there is no other representation of their troubles and background, other than the environment and whether or not some may not consider it, the history is there in the waters, and it can’t be erased.
Interesting to think of the sea as a medium, not just a container or agent or space. What does that do when you consider it in that way?
Hi Omar! I think this is an interesting passage that you’ve singled out, as Walcott uses many biblical references, and in this case, the Song of Solomon is a collection of love poems about a husband and wife’s spiritual and physical connection. Of course, I’ve only found this out after looking up the meaning. It was difficult understanding this poem because of how many biblical references he makes, and I’m not well-versed in these stories. However, I think this ties in with your point, that Walcott is using the ocean as a medium, or as a way of reframing and retelling the history of the people drowned in the ocean. I think the imagery of sunken women, whose manacles are replaced by bracelets of cowries, is important because she is being embraced and covered in jewelry by the ocean, like the husband does to his wife in the Song of Solomon. I think Walcott is telling us that human connection exists, and existed even amid the commodification and stripping of humanity from enslaved people, and the ocean returned that to them.
Hi Omar. I think your opening line is really thought provoking: “There is a bond between humanity and nature that is unfortunately unable to be told by either side.” It makes me think that the only humans that would be able to process the information are those that have died in nature, or at the hands of nature. You said that “the medium between what is believed to be true and what is believed to be fabrication is the environment and as mentioned by Walcott “The sea”. It is interesting to think what lies between truth and falsity is the ocean and nature. It cannot lie to us, but it also cannot be understood. It definitely feels like there is an ocean between truth and lies nowadays. Thanks for the thought provoking response!