Ruth Oaks 

A Bit of History 

Wood engraving 

I made this to illustrate a poem by Jane Wilson ‘To the Memory of Victor Harris’, a friend who had come from the Caribbean. The long poem deals with the history of the slave trade between three continents, and subsequent migration, which I have tried to reflect in the triptych.  Here are a few lines from the poem:

‘For you were not at home
Either here or there or where you were at home
Before, my friend. Three continents
And many faiths betrayed you.
. . . . Only the tides
Were deferent to your way-out crown
This side of heaven.’