Ruins of a Great House

“Ruins of a Great House” is composed of five stanzas of varying lengths. While it is best defined as a work of free verse—a poem which lacks a strict metrical structure—it often drifts into iambic trimeter or pentameter. These forms use three or five iambs per line, an iamb being a metrical foot consisting of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable. Here is an example of how such a line would scan:

“The rot | re-mains | with us, | the men | are gone” (Line 38)

Walcott’s extensive knowledge of classic English literature makes his decision to abandon a strict form and meter particularly rebellious. Many of the writers Walcott references throughout the poem strictly adhered to traditional forms (Shakespeare and John Milton, for example, are masters of iambic pentameter). By choosing not to use traditional forms, Walcott challenges the canon even as he demonstrates his extensive knowledge of it. His deviation makes room for something new.

Walcott also utilizes enjambment—a poetic device in which a sentence or thought is carried on across line breaks—and varying line lengths to emphasize particular sections or build speed within the poem.