Attempt a critical analysis of the poem “Stone” by Brathwaite.

The sense of peace which he now feels outside is also within him. Experiencing oneness with the elements of nature he speaks of the wind as a tangible presence – much like Marcus Garvey come alive. An affinity with Garvey is stressed because of his emphasis on social reform and on Africa as a means of asserting Black identity. Garvey’s ideas were considered the precursor of the Rastafarian movement. Smith’s links with the Rastas are evinced throughout the poem in his use of the pronoun “i” and a mention of “dreadlocks.”

Garvey’s words did have an effect on people’s minds in his times and on subsequent generations. This is presented as his “mighty word[s]” making holes in the ground he trod upon. It impinges upon Smith’s consciousness like a “scream” quite unlike his own scream in the first half of the poem which is not heard by anybody. In a way Garvey’s demands for social justice and equality were echoed by Smith. He becomes conscious of this only in the moment when his ears “bleed” or are full of sounds which had an impact on him and he recognises “i had become that sound.”