The Burial of the Dead
The Burial of the dead is a fairly lengthy poem with topics ranging from happy childhood moments: "And when we were children, staying at the archduke's,
My cousin's, he took me out on a sled." To dreary, miserable memories: "A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, I had not thought death had undone so many." Or the detailed description of this person's façade as told by Madame Sosostris, the clairvoyant: "Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante, Had a bad cold, nevertheless Is known to be the wisest woman in Europe, With a wicked pack of cards." I chose this particular poem because I find it full of mystery and complexity, yet also robust in its simplicity, but in a peculiar sort of way. This is a true example of a poem that can be seen from many viewpoints and all of them would be correct.
A Game of Chess
This poem seems like a romantic poem masked by a dominant third person viewpoint beginning with a description of what seems to be a room set for royalty. With the colored glass and ivory perfume bottles, a terrific picture is painted: a picture of a wispy, smoky substance just out of reach: "And drowned the sense in odours; stirred by the air That freshened from the window, these ascended In fattening the prolonged candle-flames, Flung their smoke into the laquearia, Stirring the pattern on the coffered ceiling." This quickly transitions into what seems to be a rapid pleading for accompaniment: "My nerves are bad to-night. Yes, bad. Stay with me. "Speak to me. Why do you never speak. Speak." I chose this poem because it evokes such a strange combination of feelings: Passion, Fear, Stress, Love and Anxiety.
The Fire Sermon
This Poem seems set in London about the time that Londoners decided the Thames River was too polluted, and took action to clean it the poem alludes to this with "The river [Thames] bears no empty bottles, sandwich papers,
Silk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes, cigarette ends
Or other testimony of summer nights." A bit further in the poem, Eliot talks about the "Violet Hour"- "At the violet hour, when the eyes and back
Turn upward from the desk, when the human engine waits" I think this is a manifestation of the human emotion that sets in near the end of every day, this element of human nature is one that makes us look at the clock, waiting to leave. This poem was one of my choices because of the intriguing title, suggesting a "Heaven and Hell" conflict.
Death by Water
This is the shortest poem in The Wasteland and is also one of the easiest to understand, Phlebas, the Phoenician has been dead for two weeks (A fortnight). Since he has been dead, his body has been torn apart by the mighty ocean current "A current under sea picked his bones in whispers." It seems Phlebas died young according to the next line- "He passed the stages of his age and youth entering the whirlpool." I believe that the whirlpool reference is significant because it may allude to ancient Greek myth, in which Hades had a whirlpool of souls that he watched over and guarded, for this was his duty as Lord of the Dead. This poem packs quite a lot of symbolism into eight lines, which is why I chose it, I also agree with what is expressed by the author.
What the Thunder Said
This passage seems to be very complex, both in meaning and composition structure, thus yearning to be understood by many a viewpoint. It begins with a seemingly obvious description of the wasteland "frosty silence in the gardens After the agony in stony places...Dead mountain mouth of carious teeth that cannot spit." But as this seems obvious, it is far more complex when analyzed. I believe the personification of the mountains indicates nature having an ability to regenerate itself, but it has somehow lost this ability. The poem then moves to a more mysterious paragraph about mortality, it seems this stalking being is an earthly manifestation of either death or of some sort of demonic being. This being the most mentally taxing poem I chose, it was chosen out of desperation, I needed a fifth poem, and What the Thunder Said was there. I do realize though, that it has a very deep rooted structure and meaning, which can only be understood by the truly gifted, and to be able to write such poetry seems like an unattainable goal for most.
