In “The Sea Is History” by Derek Walcott, the poet portrays the ocean as an archive of cultural memory by referencing Biblical and historical knowledge, thus revealing how man-made monuments and stories are temporary but can be preserved within the ocean which carries an enduring record of human history.

“Where are your monuments, your battles, martyrs?” Walcott opens with a challenge. He asks where the remnants of man-made creations can be found once they are long gone, to which the reply is, “The sea / has locked them up. The sea is History,” thus establishing the foundation of the poem where the sea is portrayed as a vessel containing historical knowledge and depth. 

Walcott continues by chronologically describing Old Testament books of the Bible. He first describes Genesis, then Exodus, then the Song of Solomon, then Lamentations. By shifting from book to book specifically in chronological order, the work shifts from a mere poem to more of a story with a sequence of events, similar to human history. Walcott is further emphasizing the representation of the ocean as a continuous timeline containing such history and depth. For example, in his representation of Exodus, Walcott writes, “Bone soldered by coral to bone, / mosaics / mantles by the benediction of the shark’s shadow.” This could be referring to the famous Exodus story of Moses delivering the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. In doing so, he parts the Red Sea just in time for the Israelites to safely escape, but the waves come crashing down on the Egyptians in their wake, thus drowning their pursuers. The imagery of coral and bone being soldered together imply a connection between elements of the ocean and the land/humans. In this case, the bones and bodies of the Egyptians lie among the coral and water, forever preserved by the blessing, or “benediction of the shark’s shadow,” in the sea. In Walcott’s representation of the Song of Solomon, a book about marriage and poetic love, he flips the romantic narrative with descriptions of “white cowries clustered like manacles / on the drowned women, / and those were the ivory bracelets / of the Song of Solomon.” The poet’s mention of drowned women chained with manacles could be referring to the slave trade where many slaves died in transportation overseas, once again associating human and ocean elements by comparing cowries to the chains. The typically beautiful and romantic images of “white cowries” and “ivory bracelets” represent bondage, definitely not poetic love, in this poem. By flipping the theme of the Song of Solomon, Walcott is contrasting Biblical stories with historical reality, or idealistic love versus slavery. The ocean preserves the bodies, and therefore real history. The poet thus paints the ocean as not only a mere vessel that preserves stories, but also harsh truth, no matter how buried. After chronologically describing Lamentations, Walcott shifts his poem to the New Testament with the lines, “the spires /  lancing the side of God / as His son set, and that was the New Testament.” Biblically, the New Testament begins with the emergence of Jesus Christ, who was crucified. The imagery of spires piercing the “side of God” is reminiscent of how when Jesus was on the cross, Roman soldiers pierced his side with spears to see if he had died yet. The images of God’s son setting can have a double meaning. It can represent Jesus, the son, dying on the cross, but also the sun literally setting, thus bringing about a new day in history. The thought of development and an unfolding story can also reference how the ocean changes as well, just as much as the land, as the seafloor is constantly shifting and the ocean itself changes with the shifting in orientation of the continents over time. Walcott characterizes these sequence of events as “waves’ progress,” once again connecting the sea to human history and stories. However, with due progress, all waves break eventually, and the poet begins describing the book of Revelations. 

Now describing the last book of the New Testament, the poet writes almost nonsensical lines inclusive of “synod of flies,” “bullfrog bellowing for a vote,” and “caterpillars of judges.” It is clear that Walcott is describing Revelations because the book details a sequence of events that precede the end of history and the world. These include swarms, like of flies, and plagues, like of frogs, as well as increasingly chaotic and disintegrating structures of government and authority. Walcott is providing commentary on human systems where politicians beg for votes and synods can be rotted with corrupt figures, while associating humans with nature closely and relevantly, which is consistent with Revelation’s prophecies. Walcott also describes how these events only happened after “each rock broke into its own nation,” insinuating the beginning of a new chapter of history, however chaotic. Thus, the ending line of “History, really beginning,” has a double meaning. The creation of new nations insinuates the beginning of new histories and stories, however the descriptions of Revelations and the end of the world insinuates a conclusion to history. This conflict can be explained by the line, “with their sea pools, there was the sound / like a rumour without any echo.” The sea is denouncing the prophecies of Revelations as nothing more than a rumour with no actual impact, which again is Walcott painting the ocean as holding the truth. What was Biblically and traditionally perceived as the end of history is actually the beginning, hence “History, really beginning.”

Ultimately, “The Sea is History” by Derek Walcott uses heavy Biblical allusions and connections between humans and nature in order to further the purpose of depicting the ocean as a vessel preserving truth and history.