Soon Come
by Hugh Hodges
Category: Literary Criticism

Soon Come celebrates Jamaican poetry as an expression and extension of the island's rich spiritual traditions, offering fresh insights into some of the late twentieth century's most important and influential poetry. Drawing inspiration from the history of Myal, Kumina, Revivalism, and Rastafari, Hodges develops a critical language for the discussion of a wide range of Jamaican texts, both oral and written. Beginning with traditional proverbs and Anancy stories, Soon Come explores healing rituals, possession rites, and miracles in Revival hymns; the seminal poetry of Claude McKay, Una Marson, and Louise Bennett; the Rastafari-influenced reggae of Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Bunny Wailer, and Ras Michael; the dub poetry of Linton Kwesi Johnson and Mutabaruka; and the groundbreaking work of Dennis Scott, Anthony McNeill, and Lorna Goodison. What emerges is a profoundly hopeful vision of Jamaican poetry as an ongoing ritual that engenders the future even as it reimagines the past. Written in a lively, accessible style, Soon Come will appeal as much to the general reader as to the academic, to the serious Bob Marley fan as much as to the student of New World religious traditions.