When poets refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.
Religious References:
- The Communion, or the Eucharist (second stanza): The second stanza of “Love After Love” has a curiously ceremonial and reverent tone, as the speaker issues a series of simply stated instructions: “Eat,” “Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart.” In this context, the references to bread and wine could be interpreted as a shout-out to the Christian ritual of the Lord’s Supper.
Also called Communion or the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper commemorates the meal Jesus shared with his disciples on the night before his Crucifixion. According to scripture, Jesus compared the bread and wine of this meal to his own body and blood. In modern form, reenactment of the Lord’s Supper remains central to Christian worship, though Protestants and Catholics interpret it differently. In all Christian traditions, however, participation in the Lord’s Supper signifies believers’ sense of communion with the living spirit of Christ.
Raised as a Methodist, Derek Walcott rebelled against the dominance of the Catholic Church in his native St. Lucia. He also developed a broader understanding of spirituality, finding God in nature and poetry rather than just in church. In an interview in 1986, Walcott explained, “I have never separated the writing of poetry from prayer. I have grown up believing it is a vocation, a religious vocation.”