Broad sun-stoned beaches.
White heat.
A green river.
A bridge,
scorched yellow palms
from the summer-sleeping house
drowsing through August.
Days I have held,
days I have lost,
days that outgrow, like daughters,
my harbouring arms.
In this poem there isn't a known character with a name, but telling by the words 'I'and 'my' we can tell the author is showing some sort of ownership. He seems like a vistor to the Tobago during the summer. The title saying 'Midsummer' showing that his summer is coming to an end. The imagery shows that it is taken place in a beautiful area during the summer with wonderful weather. I don't understand the audience that Walcott is addressing, but the image he creates a tone that seems relaxing.
His tone is like sad and relaxing at the same time near the last couple of lines. As he gazes at the green river he expresses his thoughts and feelings. If a reader has experienced a relaxing day on a beach they could relate to the scenery.
The way the poem was written was strange to me. The author intentionally separated the poem every two lines to create a pausing emotion allowing the reader to imagine and relax every stanza. It described a lot of imagery, but did not identify any sounds or actions being taken place on the island. He never spoke about the sounds of the water or how the heat felt against his skin. He only stayed on the description of his surrounding as he was relaxing on the island.
The poem doesn't have a certain rhyme scheme within the poem but his image he creates allows the reader to relax, to hear and see the sounds of the ocean. There isn't much alliteration but there is some founded in line five and six "scorched yellow palms from the summer-sleeping house" the 's' is being repeated. I compared the 's' sound to the waves of the ocean creating a calm sound in the readers mind.