Although Derek Walcott's Caribbean meditation on Homer's Odyssey stands by itself as an eloquent and thrilling work of epic poetry, to read it without a helping hand--or book--is to miss many of its riches. In accessible language (no unintelligible academic posturing here), Hamner reveals the allusions and untangles the threads: Homer, history of St. Lucia, Walcott's autobiographical allusions, etc. It can be used while one is reading the poem, or skimmed afterward. (It took me a day.) Either way, it's excellent and readable support.

Brodsky, Heaney, and Walcott helped me hear the music of Frost's poetry. They don't analyze all that many poems but the insights they offer open the door to others. For example, I learned about Frost's idea of "Sentence-Sounds" in Brodsky's review of "Home Burial" and his idea of the "Sounds of Sense" in Heaney's discussion of "Desert Places". Then when I read Frost's "To a Thinker", which does not appear in "Homage to Frost", I came across the line "...From sound to sense and back to sound", and of course I recognized a familiar theme. If you like Frost, this book makes a nice companion reader.

If you need to read one critical examination of Robert Frost, buy this & read Joseph Brodsky's fantastic, accessible take on "Home Burial". What a great book this is--three fine poets examining a brilliant poet. But it is Brodsky who best holds to the Frost credo--he speaks clearly and plainly.

Hamner's updated study of Derek Walcott is a great introduction to Walcott's ever expanding oeuvre. His views are balanced and magisterial. A great companion to this book is a chronological collection of essays, "Critical Perspectives on Derek Walcott", edited by Hamner himself.

Most critic of Walcott tend to fall prey to the dichotomy of folk poet versus literary humanist. Hamner avoids this pitfall by stressing the Walcott's vision of man as an exile, a castaway.

In the first chapter, Hamner surveys the social and cultural situations of West Indies out of which Walcott emerged. He also outlines his development phases and common theme. Once these foundations are sketched, he then breaks Walcott's works into five phases in the following chapters. Along this chronological approach, he shrewdly intersperses Walcott's poetry, plays and sometimes prose to illuminate his points. They are threaded lightly with Walcott's biography. The last chapter is reserved for studying Walcott's prose. The overall framework is excellent as the reader can appreciate Walcott's oeuvre like the lights refracted through a crystal.

Flipping through the pages, one hears Walcott's lines like waves lapping on the beach of time. Like the palm trees on the beach, Hamner's book offers calming shades and, now and then, some refreshing breeze.

(Footnote. The 2-page chronology of Walcott's life can be improved. e.g. In addition to the years when Walcott's works were published and performed, when were his marriages and divorces, the birth of his children ? I am not suggesting that one should dissect the works psychologically. These datelines may give the reader a fuller picture of Walcott.)