When the Poets Came
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(L-R): Jane King-Hippolyte, Kendel Hippolyte, Robert Lee
and
Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott |
The Caribbean Literature Programme at the Pope John Paul II Seminary provides the students with an introduction to the world of Caribbean literature and an appreciation of the creativity that surrounds them. The programme is co-ordinated by Msgr. Patrick Anthony. Students were recently exposed to the Derek Walcott Nobel Laureate lecture delivered by Professor Edward Baugh on “Journeying with Walcott,” and subsequently, four of St. Lucia’s leading poets, John Robert Lee, Kendel Hippolyte, George ‘Fish’Alphonse and Jane King-Hippolyte were invited to visit with the student. Each poet had one session with them discussing literature and their particular approach to their craft. In the following essays the students share their reflections on ‘When the poets came…’ John Robert Lee
by Cleophus Joseph
The visit of Mr. John Robert Lee occurred, ironically one day after our own experience of the talk of Mr. Eddie Baugh on Nobel Laureate, Hon. Derek Walcott.
Adding, as a personal point, Mr. John Robert Lee did not look like much of a poet to me. I guess that I will have to reevaluate my perceptions of what a poet looks like. He looked more like an intellectual, who was interested in poetry. When, however, he introduced himself as a poet and play-wright, I was pleasantly surprised. One unfortunate thing is that we never got to sample much of his personal work, but we did discuss his personal views on what an artist is and how art works.
The first point which emerged very strongly, is that the artist is a sign of social change. As society continually evolves and the values of the people evolve, new forms of Art emerge that reflect these changes. He showed the examples of the Black Power Movement. In the midst of social and cultural upheaval, with the rejection of European colonialism and the embracing of the Pan-African movement, the art, and especially poetry, began to take greater notes of freedom and rebellion. He also pointed out that the art forms of every era go towards its highest means of expression, and the highest point of expression for the Black Power Movement is Rastafarianism; the position of embracing Africa until God must be an African.
But more than just being the product of his society, the artist is also the instrument of change of that society. Through their works, they can stir up the masses and, using their expressions as a means of empowerment for the people, can become themselves, revolutionists in their cultures. There have been examples throughout the Caribbean, where artists, especially writers, through their work have agitated against social evils. Persons such as V.S. Naipaul, the region’s second Nobel Laureate, with his many criticisms of the Caste systems of Trinidad, the Colonial power in the Caribbean and the many prejudices of Trinidadian society in the early sixties and beyond. The artist condemns what he sees as unjust and tries to enforce his values by educating the masses.
Most of all, however, and connected to the other two, the artist is a person. This means that the artist produces from personal experiences. So a person such as V.S. Naipaul will therefore write from the experience of a Hindu, raised in Trinidad during the colonial period, experiencing the Black Power Movement. Derek Walcott, however will write as a black St. Lucian twin, raised in the midst of the colonial period around the end of the Second World War. The material they work with may be similar, their expression, however, will be very different. These developmental issues, combined with their own preferences of style and artistic content, mean that no two artists will produce the same material. The way in which they write or paint may be similar, but it will also be unique.
George “fish” Alphonse
By Marlon Weekes
George “Fish” Alphonse impressed me a lot on his visit to the seminary. Initially I never heard his poetry and was very fascinated by his work. His oral poetry interested me a lot because the style was so unique. The dramatization of his poetry captivated my attention and was very refreshing. He told us he was once a seminarian for three years but discontinued and ventured into poetry. He started reciting a very spiritual poem which was a conversation with God without any interceding by religious denominations. The poem was very powerful especially the fact that it was said in Kweyol.
His dramatization of poems give a very clear understanding of his emotional state when writing. What I liked about his poems was that they were very ‘down to earth’ and easy to relate to. He recited a poem called “Country Bookie” which talked about the stigma associated with it. This poem had a good touch of humor which I appreciated very much. Most of his poems deal with social issues which plaque society. He said that the purpose of his poetry is to create change and to get individuals to think.
The poem which really got my attention was one about crime evolving among young men and the state of life as a result. I could relate to this poem easily because it is a very serious social issue. I liked the energy and emotion he used in reciting the poem which led me to some serious contemplation. His poem topics range from children to women which made me relate to different experiences in my life. I was very much impressed with his poems and dramatization.
Compared to other poets his poetry, in my opinion, is very exciting and left a lasting impression on me. Kendal Hippolyte
By Francis Kyeyune
Kendel Hippolyte is a St. Lucian poet whose poems highlight social injustices. He sees a society based on Karl Marx’s category of classes whereby the rich oppress and exploit the poor. His role as a poet is to become the voice of the voiceless, i.e the socially oppressed. His writings express the actual life struggles of the poor.
Hippolyte believes that the social conditions shape the mind of a poet like himself. A poet (who is an especially gifted individual) sieves through the existential realities in order to ‘prophesy’ the consequences of social policies. He asserts that from the poet’s vision on social mechanisms, the poet is able to lead others to the discovery of the true meaning of life and into the interior nature of the soul.
Kendel regards poetry as self-knowledge. It is about the soul searching for real life meaning. He believes that the poet’s soul seeks this ultimate meaning of life in an inward trend, starting with the general society then into the self. It is a deductive search. He says that since the soul is also transcendent, it seeks a return to that transcendental union with its creator. Hippolyte, for example, quotes the Rastafarians’ radical search for the face of “Jah” even in the roaring lion. This search is altogether a journey to human freedom and happiness.
For Hippolyte, a poet often gets abrupt inspirations from the “Poet’s Muse” who is also known as a poet’s lover. She inspires the poet frequently but at irregular intervals. The poet must therefore be ready at all times to write down any inspirational idea which may come at any time of her choice for the common good of the people.
Kendel Hippolyte therefore concludes that the poet is a leading torch in the human soul’s search for its transcendental connection.
Mrs. Jane King-Hippolyte
By Derek Weekes
From secondary school, I have had a very stereotypical view of literature. It was not very appealing to me at that time particularly because of all the reading involved. Being somewhat of a scientific student I became accustomed to the definitive and objective answers which analytic computation brought. This and the frustration I felt when trying to interpret some stanza or verse gave me a bad impression of poetry. All the subjectivism just seemed quite inferior and contrary to all other subjects. However after having literature presented by the four poets I have come to have a better understanding of the nature of the art itself and also of the importance that it has played all throughout history.
One significant point that I got from Miss Jane King’s presentation was how the poet or writer really seeks, using different kinds of forms, to allow the reader to experience what the poet has experienced. This she said is done by the use of different figurative techniques and manipulation of words so that the emotion and feeling of the poet may be transmitted to the reader. The poems that she herself read illustrated this point by making comparisons of her ideas with things I was able to identify with. Although see had to elaborate after she read the poem I still saw the contrast that she made and the effectiveness in which see got me to view an idea in her perspective. One particular example I remember was the poem she said she wrote after reading a news article about the capture of a serial killer and the subsequent revelation of his countless victims (prostitutes) that had gone unnoticed. She said she used the similarity of how colored clothes get separated at laundry to get the idea across of how society normally just discards and isolates those who don’t conform to its standards.
She also tried sharing the way in which poets think with a sort of interior and subconscious dialogue. She stated that in order to write poetry there must be some kind of conditioning of the mind to think a particular way and she admitted that this is sometimes difficult and frustrating. She said that the idea for a poem normally is first thought of but takes a long time after to actually the right words and forms in which to express that idea. According to Mrs. King it sometimes happens that after wrestling with the idea for a long time there suddenly comes a moment where all thoughts and words begin to flow. She confirmed this by giving an example of a poem she wrote after having stooping her car on the beach because of a sudden enlightenment.
As with all the poets Miss King acknowledged that there is an important role which every poet plays in the society. This role was suggested to consist of expressing the feelings and attitudes of the majority of a generation. When looking at literature from this context I recognize the invaluable contribution that it has made to the telling of history. More importantly it has given a better appreciation for the Bible which is one of the greatest collections of literature in the world. I can now better understand, from what I have learnt, how the Book, though inspired by the Holy Spirit, contains works in which the authors tried to relate in a simple manner their sometimes profound experiences with God.
So I have gone from looking at poetry and literature as something boring and uninteresting to having a deep respect and appreciation of the art although the frustration from trying to interpret poetry still remains.
The Passion Canticles
(for Charles Cadet)
by John Robert Lee
Prologue: The alabaster flask
Over the bowed Head, the anointing oil of nard
pours from Mary’s broken alabaster flask—
certainly, she filled that room with the fragrant adoration of her Lord;
certainly, even then, some grudged Him that embalming, with their indignant jealousy,
you heard it in the thief’s voice, sneering at the poor;
and the Master, raising His burial, raising her memorial, raises their approaching loss,
beyond the maddening fragrance of the pure
ointment. But the bedeviled thief rose in envy, and over Christ, his bottled hatred broke.
Caiaphas
“Who is this, this peasant prophet, wailing shoah on the city?
What is this riot of rags and branches down the thoroughfare?
And why this bacchanal of blasphemy resurrecting from Bethany?
Which Balak sends this Balaam’s foal to mock Messiah?
Where next this din of thieves, this unwashed brood of publicans?
Will they impale the merchants and the bankers and the priests on their hosannas
when they’ve stormed the precincts of the porch?
While their ambitious carpenter withers, as usual, in some forgotten Arimathean sepulchre?”
Berith
Bitter herbs, bread unleavened, wine, and lamb slain between the two evenings—
do the twelve comprehend they are settling the last rites of Exodus, sipping the watered
dregs of that final Pascha?
And beyond fiction, in the Servant’s holy hands, the betraying heel. And the flat-footed denials.
And the splayed doubts. And other such leavenings.
Out of the common dish comes the separating sop to deepen their perplexity.
So there, above some obscure alley in His City, all our wretched story— Eden, Sinai, Golgotha—
are passed over, for His Bread, His Wine, His bitter Tree.
Later still, such talk under the brooding night! Then prayer, a hymn,
and over the Kidron, into Gethsemane.
Gethsemane
What commenced in the other garden begins to end here,
in the shadow of an olive mill by a black brook.
“Behold, We have become like one of them, to bear
their sorrows and their griefs.” Let the wheel break
this Fruit on every tooth and tread. Bruise
the Seed under the trampling heel of the Bull
of Bashan. Pour the sweating barrel
of this agony into the cupping palms of God.
“Ecce homo”
“O Galilean, robed in purple, crowned with thorns,
is this Your estate? Is this Your kingship,
reduced to the scourge of their envy and spit? God born
of man, behold Your truth: silver kisses treacherous palms, shape-shifters
rend their costumes at cock-crow, the Pavement is soiled
by the desolation of Your bloody Purity. Look Carpenter,
is Caesar not adored, is Barabbas not preferred?
See, Holy Fool, You and Your Jews, I wash my hands of You!”
Friday
They leave Him nothing but irreducible nakedness—
no fig-leaf girdle, no swaddling cloth, no seamless tunic;
they impale the battered Scarecrow on the Skull’s brow; their final curses
perforate the darkening skin of the sun; His distending knuckles
claw the veil of the God-forsaken air; yet, even now,
He thirsts only for the sour wine at the end of the hyssop branch; stricken
between earth and heaven, His heart opens to a new covenant,
and pours its blood and water on the Father’s reconciling Hands.
Epilogue: Piéta
“He was all scattered, empty-limbed, exhausted, gone,
when I gathered Him off the stake. O my Son,
my Son! I was more Your son than You were mine,
Your tentative disciple, peeping out the Council’s shutters for Your Kingdom.
O my wounded King! Holy, Holy, Holy Child! O my dear,bruised Prince!
O Father, receive Him in our poor linen, swathing His torn
flesh. May these paltry spices herald His approach
to Heaven’s Throne. O LORD, give this Your Servant rest in Your eternal Rock.”
Spirit Responds to Crisis:
The Role of Spirituality in Education
Address by Dr. Didacus Jules
In honor of the 150 Anniversary of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny
Castries St. Lucia July 5th 2004
Introduction
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| Dr.Didacus Jules |
Even before presenting this paper, I will necessarily have to crave your indulgence and ask that I be listened carefully to. I am forced to make this appeal because my experience has been that, particularly in small societies, what people hear you say is not so much what your heart and mouth utter but the meanings that their stereotypes of you expect and construct. It is interesting that since the agenda of this symposium has been published, so many people have come to me seeking confirmation almost in disbelief that I would be presenting a paper on Spirituality and Education! To one such enquiry I answered, “come and hear for yourself – if you think that I have no spirituality, then I will have nothing to say; or then I may just have something small to say”.
I ask for your indulgence not because I seek the approval of anyone for my point of view but because the conclusions that I want to present today have come from deep within, from the seven years of serving as Permanent Secretary for Education and from continuing reflection on the discussions between Church and State that I have been privileged to be part of and from seeing the anguish of youth at risk in education and in society. And I have asked what is now wrong and what is different about that wrong that makes it so difficult to find answers and to shape solutions.
I am not a theologian and in the stereotyping of my time, I am sinner perhaps beyond redemption but I offer these thoughts and ideas in sincerity and with the hope that, in being listened to, they might contribute to the embrace of humility by Church and the acceptance of human limitations by the State so that they may engage in a more fruitful dialogue focused on the needs of the youth.
It has become a virtual truism that the times we now live in are not only exciting and unprecedented but are also more dangerous than ever. It says something about the human spirit that every time we experience a paradigm shift, there is a strong optimistic element of expectation. But it also says something about the human condition that this optimistic expectation is soon subverted by pessimism, passivity, and the loss of hope. The end of the agrarian era led to new expectations about the potential for prosperity that the industrial revolution was supposed to bring. Instead, this was superseded by poverty and inequity. The maturation of the industrialized society into the consumer society while appearing to democratize economy by creating products for the masses, spawned new levels of greed, acquisitiveness and individualism. In more recent times, the end of the Cold War engendered expectations that the swords would be beaten into ploughshares and that the peace dividend would usher a new era of human civilization with equity and peace.
These expectations have not been matched by reality. As the morning of the new millennium unfolds, it appears that we while we have entered a morning of tremendous opportunity, it is also proving to be an era of unforeseen danger, unexpected turbulence and unpredicted chaos. 911 and the Iraq War have changed all that we took for granted about public safety, about the nature of peace and of war and the security of nations. The empowerment that the information revolution brought to the individual has now realized its dark side – every man can now be an army; and with the new technologies of information, the power of one can reap the destruction of millions.
An Analysis of the New Age
At another level the process of globalization has generated its own dialectic and increasingly arrayed against the hegemonization of markets and nations is the fragmentation of states, the formation of new alliances of race, religion and ethnic identity – new tribal poles of counter-hegemony. Manuel Castells put it succinctly when he asserted that:
“Expressions of social resistance to the logic of informationalization and globalization are being built around primary identities, creating defensive communities in the name of God, locality, ethnicity or family. At the same time, founding social institutions as important as patriarchalism and the nation-state are called into question under the combined pressure of globalization of wealth and information, and localization of identity and legitimacy”.1
Castells sees these counter-hegemonic expressions as a fight by those affected to seek to maintain control over their lives and destiny:
“Along with the technological revolution, the transformation of capitalism, and the demise of statism, we have experienced, in the last quarter of the Century, the widespread surge of powerful expressions of collective identity that challenge globalization and cosmopolitanism on behalf of cultural singularity and people’s control over their lives and environment.
These expressions are multiple, highly diversified, following the contours of each culture, and of historical sources of formation of each identity. They include proactive movements, aiming at transforming human relationships at their most fundamental level, such as feminism and environmentalism.
But they also include a whole array of reactive movements that build trenches of resistance on behalf of God, nation, ethnicity, family, locality, that is, the fundamental categories of millennial existence now threatened under the combined, contradictory assault of techno-economic forces and transformative social movements.”
This is the new character of our age. Another well-known futurist Alvin Toffler analyses it as the contradictory tensions of a world washed by the waves of civilization. The first wave experienced was the invention of agriculture in which the human condition was transformed from the state of hunter-gatherers to agrarian society; the second wave was the industrial revolution in which the machine replaced human labor and the third wave is the information revolution that we are all experiencing in which the superiority of mind and knowledge assert themselves. What is particularly relevant about Toffler’s insights for the purposes of this paper is his assertion that in the 21st Century money and violence will become sources of power and loci of identity formation in contradistinction to the role of knowledge and information.
We have already heard that the end of the Cold War and the demise of Statism are distinct features of our era. It must be recognized that this endgame has brought mixed results to countries such as ours. Many recognize and applaud the return of representational democracy and the restoration of accepted rules by which power is arbitrated in society but the picture is a more textured one. The end of ideology has also meant the loss of a vital alternative option to channel the idealism and restlessness of youth. Ideology nurtured to excess can be grievously harmful to human perception and understanding – and this obtains whether this ideology is political or religious, or racial. For many young people coming of age in the heady period of the 70’s in the Caribbean, life was an intoxicating contradiction of ideologies. There was the rude anger of discovering blackness in the Black Power period, there was the sense of global connectedness with the dispossessed and all those who believed and fought to make the world a better, more equal and more just world. Third World ideologies – all positing some variation of socialism – were an attractive option for youth because they presented the power of possibility, that one could change the world and that a blue print for a better society did exist, and we believed. It married many tendencies – once could be Christian and yet socialist, subscribing to the tenets of liberation theology; one could be an agnostic and still believe that a better world were possible. Today, with the end of ideology, there are no such options for today’s youth. Today’s youth are faced with either buy-in to the status quo or the most anarchistic, nihilistic rejections of that condition. It’s now buy-in or drop out; no change it.
If I can be permitted to be somewhat biographical to illustrate this point. I was raised in a profoundly Catholic middle class household. My father was a member of every Catholic lay organization that existed and in one of them – the St. Vincent DePaul Society – a fundamental duty was the care of the poor and indigent. Every Saturday, he would collect rejected bananas on the Castries docks, together with food hampers from Lafayette on Bridge Street and we would go through the outskirts and ghettos of Castries dropping off bananas and hampers to indigent homes. This was the birth of my political awareness – as a relatively privileged middle class kid, I could not understand the poverty and the degradation that I saw in those households and I started asking what have these people done to suffer so much and to be condemned to such hopelessness?
Then came the Black Power explosion in Trinidad and the questions became more angry, strident and racial. And just at the point when many of us stood at the intersection of racial anger, and the false groove of the Black North American fascination with drugs, a young radical Catholic priest appeared in our sixth form class proclaiming a gospel of Christ for Liberation, Black Dignity and Justice for the Poor – Msgr. Patrick Anthony. Of a class of about 25, three had already succumbed mentally and irretrievably to hard drugs (MX and other pills); and the rest of us found logic and an answer both for our youthful cravings for answers and for changing our world in his mentorship. And what a journey it was! He took us through Vatican II and the Study & Action Group was born; he took us through Teilhard de Chardin, St. Thomas Aquinas and the mystics of the Catholic world through to Kahlil Gibran and other expressions of spirituality and the Black Studies Group was born. It was a journey that led ultimately to Derek Walcott, Dunstan St. Omer, Harry Simmons, and Sessenne on the one hand and Fanon, Sartre, Camus, Eric Williams and CLR James on the other.
And from this mentorship came a sense of purpose, every one of the 23 became leaders in their own right in their own spheres. For every one of us, work is not a job but a vocation; service is not a burden but an obligation and in every breast, the silent understanding that the life of the spirit is not the boast of the Pharisee at the altar of the temple but the plea of the ragged sinner at the temple gate.
To be Continued
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