“The journey motif is the primary stylistic feature of Lorna Goodison’s poetry.

” With reference
to THREE poems you have studied, discuss the validity of this statement.

“Life is a journey that must be travelled no matter how bad the roads and accomodations”

This quote by Oliver Goldsmith can be adequately used to exemplify Lorna Goodison’s use of the

stylistic feature, journey motif to assist in highlighting the major themes in her poetry - to explain

how life’s journey initiate changes in one’s life. Journey motif in literature refers to the repetitive

idea of journey being used as a significant metaphor for a character’s path towards awakening or

another form of self-realization. Lorna Goodison is regarded as one of the Caribbean’s finest and

most distinguished poets of her generation. Many a time, she writes about the culture of Jamaica, as

well as the people's struggles and achievements. She emphasizes the various responsibilities that

women play in the home and in the workforce in her poetry; as for whether or not the tool of journey

motif is used as a primary feature in her pieces will be discussed using three of her poems: Sister

Mary and the Devil, The Road of the Dread and Caravanserai.

The poem, Sister Mary and the Devil focuses mainly on the theme of sexuality. This is made clear

by the use of religion, which is linked throughout the entire poem with sexuality as the Christian

religion forbids unmarried individuals to engage in sexual acts. This can be proven by lines 29-31 of

the poem:

“and him hold mi round me waist,

and fire catch in mi body

and I shame and hide mi face.”

Sister Mary is ashamed of her initial response - excitement, to the Devil touching her as she knows

that due to her religious background she shouldn’t give in to this type of temptation.

The poem begins with the line, “I was going down the road” and tells of Sister Mary’s literal

journey on the road, walking to Brother Williams’ funeral where she encounters the Devil. The poem
can also be in reference to Sister Mary’s spiritual journey that has been tested upon the appearance of

the Devil. The journey, in this poem represents the inner challenges and identity crisis Sister Mary

undertakes whilst on the road to self discovery. The lines:

“And then him talk

for the first time,

and it was there

Sister Mary died,” showcases when Sister Mary had finally succumbed to the Devil’s temptations,

highlighting her fall from grace, illustrating that she had finally reached the point of no return. The

word, ‘died’ can be interpreted as the death of her innocence, her purity and also the death of her

spiritual journey. Therefore, thus utilizing journey motif, Lorna Goodison was able to perfectly

emphasize themes of both sexuality and religion.

In The Road of the Dread, as the title suggests, the persona is telling the readers of a road she

regularly traverses on and describing the dreaded obstacles that overtakes her on course, constantly

being cautious, as there are no signs to indicate where you have reached - “and no look fi no milepost

fi measure yu walking”. Having to be on guard and aware of your surroundings, even if it seems like

something you recognize or are familiar with, “and no tek no stone as dead or familiar” and even

some days you aren’t even sure how the rest of day will turn out, “some day no have no definite

colour”. The persona then continues in saying that he/she continues to travel this road because at

times “the Father send some little bird that swallow flute fi trill me” to reveal that sometimes even

the little things of nature can make a big difference. The idea that the persona is trying to teach to the

readers is that the journey on this road is very dangerous and one must be very careful when

choosing to travel this particular road, but although the danger, the walk on this road is sometimes

fulfilling when one can “catch a glimpse of the end”

 The description of this road is synonymous with the journey of life that one faces. One must be

always mindful of individuals that you are familiar with, ones you think are your friends but are

actually snakes in disguise “ready fi squeeze yu kill yu” as soon as they get the chance. An also the

ones that make you feel “welcome like rain” but when you return (go dey again?) they meet you with

bad faces and treat you poorly to the point of driving you into depression, “bad dawd, bad face tun fi

drive yu underground”. Lorna Goodison uses journey motif is used extensively throughout this poem

to educate the readers on the negative effects life has on a person but also to tell that the road of life

isn’t always gloomy and will prove beneficial nearing the end.

The title of the poem, Caravanserai is indicative of journey as a caravanserai is a roadside inn

where travelers (caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. The poem Caravanserai

highlights the theme of motherhood, femininity and the strength of a woman while telling the story of

a young woman, a ‘dream seller’ that had gotten pregnant by a passing caravan. This poem is seen as

an example of journey motif because the poem tells of the lady’s journey into motherhood.

Undoubtedly, Goodison frequents many relevant and meaningful themes in her poetry such

as sexuality, love, equality, religion and motherhood, but it is also important to note that her

artistic portrayal of these themes for certain was achieved by her oftentimes being able to utilize

the recurrent representation of journey throughout her work to uphold and continuously

communicate to her audience the same important concept - life’s journey is filled with many

obstacles that will either make you - strengthen one’s character with resilience, as it did with the

persona of Road of the Dread or break you - lead to one’s demise or fall from grace as it did

with Sister Mary.