These poems by Lorna Goodison have been dissected and analized in order to obtain understand the themes carefully woven into their words. These analyses have also landed several students on the regional and territorial Caribbean Merit list for CAPE examinations
english literature caribbean poetry poetry lorna goodison
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University of the West Indies
Caribbean Poetry
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For Don Drummond
This modern sonnet comprised by Goodison, focuses in the tragic life of
Don Drummond, a famous trombonist for a reggae/blues band “The
Skatalites” in the 1950’s.
The story of Don Drummond is told through colloquial terms, ‘Dem say him
born”. This action makes the related account of Don Drummond more
natural and realistic to the reader, especially as Goodison, a fellow Jamaican
speaks of another native, like herself. It also gives her stanzas a sing-song
effect, chiefly because she is discussing a reggae/blues artist, whose genre
mimicked the rhythm of African oral tradition.
The first stanza, a sestet written in colloquial terms, explains the cause of
Don Drummond’s tragic story: a caul. In Jamaican folklore, a caul: a veil or
membrane over the face or part of the face believed to allow one insight into
the spirit realm.
The Angel Trombone Tree mentioned in stanza refers to a poisonous tree,
with flowers that contained hallucinogenic properties that led to death, much
like the mental illness of Don Drummond that blamed on his caul that
allowed him only to see into the spirit world eventually causing his death.
The encapsulated blessing and curse of Don Drummond’s mental health is
seen in “Tadaptadpaptadap… to covering all of we”. “Tadaptadpap” ,
onomatopoeia in imitation of the trombone noises, in an effort to evoke the
sound of Drummond’s instrument to the reader. She also likens the upbeat
notes of the trombone to the upturned petals of the toxic Angel Trombone
Tree. Therefore, she creates a comparison/metaphor between the two things,
fittingly characterizing them as beautiful but deadly.
The music goes all the way to Wareika, a hilly area that is south of
Kingston, known for its Rastafarian community and existing African
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