In “The Schooner Flight” Walcott builds a certain back and forth between the narrator’s love of his wife and what home once was and his pursuit to leave the island and sail the sea. This tension between the two sides of desire is amplified best through the use of imagery, simile and metaphor as Shabine often draws back to thoughts of his wife. In fact, even as he was leaving, he couldn’t help but note that the, “sky burn above Laventille pink as the gown / in which the woman I left was sleeping” which was followed by the statement “…I look in the rearview and see a man / exactly like me, and the man was weeping / for the houses, the streets, that whole fucking island.” To “look in the rearview” is the same as looking back and as Shabine looks back upon his life on this island he realizes how unhappy he was with it as the man “was weeping”. And yet, even then he can’t help but think of his wife, the woman that was left sleeping. The pull of back and forth is further seen as Shabine is already aboard the ship, ready to sail off and yet he still can’t help but think of his wife. He states, “I knew when dark-haired evening put on / her bright silk at sunset, and, folding the sea, / sidled under the sheet with her starry laugh, / that there’d be no rest, there’d be no forgetting.” This use of imagery and metaphor to describe his wife shows that even as he leaves her and watches the “evening”, “sunset”, and “starry” night come, she will never leave his mind. However the best example of the strain depicted between his inability to remain at home and passion for his family is most clearly shown when he states, “I loved them, my children, my wife, my home; / I loved them as poets love the poetry / that kills them, as drowned sailors the sea.” The repetition of “love” and “my” really emphasizes the feelings of fondness he has for his home and family but because of it thats where lies the true heartache, that what you love most will eventually wear you down. Walcott really shows the tension by highlighting that often times the things you love and care for most will be your downfall and to avoid such a downfall Shandine must leave even if his thoughts are forever filled with his wife, his children, and what was once his home.