Read the excerpt from Midsummer by Derek Walcott. With the stampeding hiss and scurry of green lemmings, midsummer’s leaves race to extinction like the roar of a Brixton riot tunneled by water hoses; The poem’s allusion to the 1981 Brixton riot

The leaves are described as racing toward extinction with the force of a Brixton riot, which was a violent and emotionally charged event. Comparing the leaves’ movement to the riot intensifies the poem’s sense of urgency and turmoil. The allusion therefore illustrates the strong feelings associated with the poem’s subject matter, rather than describing Brixton’s appearance or promising other historical references.

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