Carter, Martin –
(Full name Martin Wylde Carter) Guyanese poet.
INTRODUCTION
Well known in the Caribbean for his politically charged verse reflecting Guyana's struggles for independence, Carter began publishing poetry in the s, when he was a young socialist in the colony of British Guiana (now Guyana). His commitment to political activism is reflected in his poetic themes, which center to a large extent on the sociopolitical evolution of Guyana as it moved from colonial rule to independence in and to political turmoil in the postcolonial era. Critics have pointed to an intense revolutionary spirit in Carter's early poetry, when he held high hopes for the creation of a free country, and a more introspective, despairing turn in his later verse as he increasingly grew disillusioned by the corruption, racism, and hostility among Guyanese leaders.
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Carter was born in in Georgetown, British Guiana, into an urban middle-class family. After attending Queens College, Carter joined the British Guiana Civil Service, eventually serving as secretary to the superintendent of prisons. As he grew increasingly interested in political and social affairs during the s,
Martin Carter: Guyanese poet and political activist
A fanciful German map of the north coast of South America, from , based on Sir Walter Raleigh&#;s description of the chimerical El Dorado. Guiana was his misnomer for the entire region, and based on his voyage and book entitled &#;The discovery of the large, rich, and beautiful Empire of Guiana, with a relation of the great and golden city of Manoa&#;.
Martin Wylde Carter (Guyanese poet and political activist, )
. . .
Not I with This Torn Shirt
.
They call here,
– Magnificent Province!
Province of mud!
Province of flood!
Plantation – feudal coast!
.
Who are the magnificent here?
Not I with this torn shirt
but they, in their white mansions
by the trench of blood!
.
I tell you
this is no magnificent province
no El Dorado for me
no streets paved with gold
but a bruising and battering for self preservation
in the white dust and grey mud.
.
I tell you and I tell no secret –
now is long past time for worship
long past time for kneeling
with clasped hands at altars of poverty.
.
How a
Martin Carter Biography
Poet
One of the most important poets to come out of the Caribbean, Martin Carter has been compared to literary lions such as W.B. Yeats and Pablo Neruda. His most famous work was fueled by the political turmoil that gripped his native Guyana in the s and s. He told fellow Guyanese writer Bill Carr in an interview for the Guyanese magazine Release that politics and poetry were inseparable. "[If] politics is a part of life, we shall become involved in politics, if death is a part of life we shall become involved with death, like the butterfly who is not afraid to be ephemeral." Unfortunately, because of the fame of his politically-charged poems Carter was often pigeon-holed as a revolutionary poet. But as Guyana's Stabroek News wrote, "there were other voices in Martin Carter, strains of tenderness, love poems of moving fervour, agonies expressed that have nothing to do with politics, insights into all of human nature."
During his life, Carter received limited recognition outside of Guyana, mainly because he refused to abandon his country. A friend of his told the Guyana Chronicle, "Exile for him was not going overseas like so many of the Car
Who was Martin Carter?
Martin WyldeCarter was a Guyanese poet and political activist. Widelyregarded as the greatestGuyanese poet, and one of the most importantpoets of the Caribbean region, Carter is best known for his poems of protest, resistance and revolution. Carterplayed an active role in Guyanese politics, particularly in the yearsleading up Independence in and thosefollowingimmediately after. He was famouslyimprisoned by the Britishgovernment in Guyana in October underallegations of "spreading dissension", and again in June for taking part in a PPP procession. Shortlyafterbeingreleased from prison the first time, Carterpublished his most well-known poetry collection, Poems of Resistance from British Guiana.
- Born
- Jun 7,
Georgetown - Nationality
- Profession
- Education
- Died
- Dec 13,
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on July 23,
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