introduction 15of terza rima, a three-lined interlinked stanza sequence where the
second line of each stanza rhymes with the fi rst and third of the
next. This refi guration of form is central to what Schmidt consid-
ers to be the dispersal of an English tradition and its adaption on
a global level: ‘Unboundaried experiences of this kind are part of
the vigour of a literature which in despite of geography, remains
English. To insist on continuity is not to suggest identity: on the
contrary, it is to discover the value in difference.’^27
An early section of Omeros illustrates how Walcott refi gures the
epic structure into a Caribbean context. In Book 1 , Chapter IV the
third section grants us the perspective of the poet/narrator on St
Lucia as he encounters the young woman Helen whose attentions
become the focus of a rivalry between two men, Achille and Hector.
The poet sits waiting for ‘a cheque / Our waiter, in a black bow-tie,
plunged through the sand / between the full deck-chairs, bouncing
to discotheque’.^28 Deftly Walcott places the contemporary scene of
a nightclub into the seemingly incongruous restraint of three-lined
verse. Playfully he draws attention to the waiter as ‘Lawrence of
St Lucia’ who is ‘Like any born loser’ (p. 23 ). Crucially, Walcott
superimposes the contemporary scene upon a landscape which
evokes the Greek narrative of Helen of Troy, describing the
emergence of ‘a beauty / that left, like a ship, widening eyes in its
wake’ (p. 24 ). When questioned the waitress responds ‘ “She? She
too proud!” ’ adding with a sneer ‘ “Helen” ’ and all the rest fol-
lowed (p. 24 ). Even this brief excursion into Omeros illustrates how
Walcott strategically uses terza rima to frame his epic narrative.
In turn this formal device enables a degree of tension between the
modern and the classical, creating a work of considerable hybridity.
Unsurprisingly, in an early interview Walcott described confl icts
and contradictions as central to his biography: ‘I was a knot of
paradoxes: hating the Church and loving her rituals, learning to
hate England as I worshipped her language... a Methodist-lecher,
a near Catholic-ascetic, loving the island, and wishing I could get
the hell out of it.’^29
A further example of the engagement in contemporary poetry
with established forms is made evident in The Reality Book of
Sonnets.^30 The anthology showcases a range of eighty-three con-
temporary poets’ experimental engagement with the sonnet from