Title: The Poetical Works of Solomon Jeffery Williamson

Editor: H. F. Williamson

Publishers: Bruce Humphries, Inc. Boston Publishers, 1947. 237-pages

Reviewed by: Barbara Nelson

THE POETICAL works of a little-known Jamaican, Solomon Jeffery Williamson, is advertised on the jicotea website, a small-scale bookselling and ephemera site with the caption: "A not entirely benign blend of social, racial and religious concerns invests Jamaican-born Williamson's conservatively made poetry with considerable urgency. Edited by H. F. Williamson." It is being sold for US$50 post-paid.

It is also advertised on Biblio.com booksearch and marketplace for $35. The bookseller is Wabash River Books, an online bookseller for out-of-print books,

Not very much is known about this Jamaican poet. The archivist at Kalamazoo College Library, Ms. Liz Smith, informed me that Solomon Jeffery Williamson and his brother John Theophilus Williamson both graduated from Kalamazoo College in 1911. Founded in 1833, Kalamazoo College is among the 100 oldest colleges and universities in the United States.

Later in his life Solomon Williamson was the pastor of Belle Castle Association Baptist Churches in Belle Castle, Hector's River in Jamaica.

His brother, meanwhile, became head of the chemistry division at the Tuskegee Institute, a historically black college, in Alabama, United States.

Williamson had a close friend, Professor Forbes B. Wiley, who taught mathematics at Denison University in the United States from 1910 to 1956. Denison University was founded in 1831, and is located in Granville, Ohio. It is an independent residential Liberal Arts college.

Forbes B. Wiley must have been an outstanding mathematician. Since 1958 an annual award, the Forbes B. Wiley Award, has been given at Denison University for excellence in mathematics.

Professor Wiley wrote a tribute to "my dear friend Solomon" at the start of the book of poetry in which he asks "Was it because of the heavy cross of stammering speech of your earlier years that God so abundantly rewarded you with such delicate artistry in the use of the written word?"

Writing from Denison, he says he is Solomon's "friend of college days and through all of the years." He also asks "Was it the marvellous removal, during college days, of that cross? And the facility you then attained in public speech that gave you such implicit trust in your God and so penetrating an understanding of his nature?"

On Page 149 the poem 'Stammerer's Release' by Williamson confirms Wiley's observation of "the marvellous removal of that cross".

Devoid of pure, untrammeled speech, and fullest converse with my kind,

Life' I failed to reach,

My powers were dwarfed, I lagged behind.

For no expression could I give

To thoughts that surged within my mind

Compelled misunderstood to live

And nowhere sympathy to find.

Williamson writes how a bright spirit from Heaven came whispering to him to go to Northwestern school and obey the teachings, work and pray and obey the rules and "soon shall thy darkness turn to light."

Indeed, he went and soon learned to speak without stammering. He may have been born in Zion Hill in Jamaica. A poem of that name begins:

Oh Zion Hill, dear Zion Hill

Thou art my native home,

I love each pleasant vale and hill

I love thy mountain dome.

In another poem '1920 Riding on the Old Mail Van' Williamson describes the journey from Kingston to Port Antonio, starting at the Island G.P.O. and travelling by the eastern route via Rockfort, Dry River and Bull Bay, past Yallahs Bay and the Stink Lagoon. White Horses, Morant Bay, Port Morant's and flies and mosquitoes - all you want, Riding on the Old Mail Van. Bath, Golden Grove and Hector's R, Manchioneal, Fair Prospect, Boston and Blue Hole, then Port Antonio - bless my soul, and you're glad to be out on the ground ... You'll thank the Lord that nothing went wrong, while riding on the Old Mail Van.

He wrote lovingly of My Native Land:

How can I forget thee, dear land of my birth?

Thou fairest of islands, bright Star - gem of Earth.

An emerald set on the blue ocean's breast -

Fond memory holds thee fairest and best.

Jamaica, Jamaica, thy children afar

Still look to thee, hail thee their bright natal star

Like tempest-tossed sailors on wild ocean's foam,

They yearningly watch for the shore-lights of home.

Another poem tells of Belle Castle By The Sea

Hard by where Hector's River rolls

Its waters to the Sea

And giant waves with thunder sound

Leap up in wanton glee,

A mountain rises stern and grand

In silent majesty

Upon its crest a village stands

Belle Castle by the Sea.

He wrote several poems about Kalamazoo College (Kazoo). In one poem called The Orange and the Black (the colours of the Institution) he says:

"Oh, the Orange and the Black

Never shall true followers lack

For we'll never turn our back

On Kazoo."

In June 1911, he wrote a poem for the senior class at Kalamazoo College, called Seniorambics, written in a College Backyard. In it he mentions Bowen Hall; Claude, a stalwart youth, the gentle Florence, calm Alma, sweet Maibelle, J.T. "from far West Indian strand", and many other classmates.

Williamson was a prolific writer. There are 140 poems in the book. Several are religious including:

'Longing for Thee'

Jesus Lord, I long for Thee!

Jesus Lord, my heart is breaking,

Yearning for Thy spirit's waking

And Thy life to rise in me.

Some poems are written to people, e.g., To Mrs. Witt (on her noble work in the absence of the pastor) To Stella, Wilhelmine, my love, my queen; Eva Hall; Viola. Others are philosophical. Some tell of events "A Christmas Salutation," "Gethsemane," and many speak of events recorded in the Bible.

He was fascinated with the changing seasons while he was in college in the United States. He wrote several poems about the seasons, including Ice Storm in Spring, An Ode to Autumn, Autumn and Winter's Tragedy. He also poured out his heart in Vagaries of Freshman asking Mother Nature to "haste and bring, to longing freshmen, beauteous Spring."

He yearned for "the land where the hibiscus grows, where the tree-fern abroad flings its tremulous wings, where with murmuring music the humming bird sings."

His friend Professor Wiley said that "with little concern for earthly recompense" Williamson toiled long and faithfully "among the churches of his beloved native land, sharing in the poverty and discouragement of his people and bringing them hope in Christ."

The poem certainty affirms Williamson's faith. It says in part:

I care not what the poets write

The scholars argue and debate:

What the philosophers indite

Or scientists dogmatic state:

I know without the slightest doubt

There is a GOD of boundless might

Who lives and rules this Universe

In love and Wisdom infinite.