?"Sea Grapes" Poem Analysis
?Sea Grapes
?By Derek Walcott
?That sail which leans on light,
?tired of islands,
?a schooner beating up the Caribbean
?for home, could be Odysseus,
?home-bound on the Aegean;
?that father and husband's
?longing, under gnarled sour grapes, is like
?the adulterer hearing Nausicaa's name in
? every gull's outcry. ?This brings nobody peace. The ancient war
?between obsession and responsibility will
?never finish and has been the same
?for the sea-wanderer or the one on shore now
?wriggling on his sandals to walk home, since
?Troy sighed its last flame,
?and the blind giant's boulder heaved the trough from
?whose groundswell the great hexameters come to the
?conclusions of exhausted surf. ?The classics can console. But not enough. ?Critical Journal to "Sea Grapes" by Derek Walcott

?Sea grapes are a type of grapes that is indigenous to Caribbean Sea that has particularly bitter and sour taste.This poem, "Sea Grapes," written by Derek Walcott, illustrates that conflicts between obsession and responsibility must be solved, weaving them to ancient Greek myth and the hero by using allegory and metaphor. The readers must note that the most significant message conveyed in this poem is that individuals should settle the strife between responsibility and obsession. The poet utilizes metaphor and allegory to effectively show what he endeavors to say. Furthermore, the words 'responsibility' and 'obsession' are directly written in the poem to emphasize his message. In addition, the rhythm of "Sea Grapes" is a dactylic hexameter, which is used frequently in epics and heroic poetry, to highlight the allegory.Furthermore, Derek Walcott was born and raised in the Caribbean, and his experiences around there inspired many of his writings.Walcott was engrossed in Greek mythology, and mentioned about it frequently in his work, comparing and contrasting it with the present situations and problems.The Greek mythological hero 

?The readers must note that the most significant message conveyed in this poem is that individuals should settle the strife between responsibility and obsession.The poet utilizes metaphor and allegory to effectively show what he endeavors to say.Specifically about the allegory, the entire poem is strongly correlated to the ancient Greek myth of the hero Odysseus.The title of this poem is obscure in terms of the connection between the content and the title.However, the important message or the theme of the poem lies within the sour taste of sea grapes.Furthermore, the words 'responsibility' and 'obsession' are directly written in the poem to emphasize his message.