To Return To The Trees

“The Noble Nature” by Ben Jonson (1640)

In this poem, Ben Jonson compares human lifespan and scope to an oak and a lily, favoring the lily’s light and beauty to the oak’s endurance. Walcott’s speaker associates Jonson with an oak in “To Return to the Trees,” engaging in a kind of banter with Jonson’s poem.

“Lapis Lazuli” by William Butler Yeats (1933)

Yeats’s poem, like “To Return to the Trees,” examines the durability of art and language, leaving room for hope that the artistic impulse and sense of joy might survive even after the works themselves inevitably fade. Also like “To Return to the Trees,” Yeats interacts with art and artists across time, finding the joy of creation to be the unifying trait.

“Sea Grapes” by Derek Walcott (1972)

This poem from the same volume as “To Return to the Trees” also examines classical epics within a Caribbean terrain. It includes similar themes found in “To Return to the Trees,” including the poem’s telling last line: “The classics can console. But not enough” (Line 19). “Sea Grapes” opens the book; “To Return to the Trees” ends it.