Thinking Activity :- The Waste Land

 

                                     The Waste Land

                                                     - T.S.Eliot

          

    

                                            ( T.S.Eliot :- 1888 - 1965 ) 

                                         Thomas Stearns Eliot was an American - English poet ,  playwright , literary critic and editor. He was the leader of the modernist movement in poetry in such works as The Waste Land and Four Quartest. His experiments in fiction , style and verification revitalized English poetry and in a series of critical essays he shattered old orthodoxies and erected new ones.

 

     

                                  The Waste Land, a long poem by the American writer T.S.Eliot, is one of the most famous works of literary modernism. The Waste Land was first published in 1922 in Criterion, a magazine edited by Eliot, then a few days later in the magazine The Dial, and later that year, as a book by Boni & Liveright in New York. 

                                     The Waste Land is one of the most important poems of 20th century. It is the central work in modern poetry. Basically it divided into five parts :- " The Burial of the Dead " , " A Game Of Chess " , " The Fire Sermon ", " Death by Water ", " What the Thunder Said ". The poem explores  life in London in aftrmath of the first world war, although its various landscapes include the desert and the ocean as well as the bustling metropolis. The poem is notable for its unusual style , which fuses different poetic forms and tradition.

 

Thinking Activity on " The Waste Land " :- 

    1】' The Waste Land ' is an epic of the modern times. Discuss it with the illustrations from the text.

                         An epic is a long narrative poem filled with the heroic deeds of the hero in the battlefield. War is a prime subject of an epic. For instance, in Paradise Lost, there is a battle between the forces of God and the forces of Satan. An epic contains elevated diction, begins from the middle of the story, has Homeric similes inside it as well as the personages in an epic are of a high order, mostly taken from history. 

                             But The Waste Land is different. It does not hold the qualities of a generic epic. The diction used inside the poem is easy. Characters in this poem are not derived from history yet it has a firm connection with the fierce history of World War First. Characters in this poem belong to the common people. There is no proper beginning of the story and the narrator shifts from section to section, signifying the downfall of the scattered humanity. 

                                  The waste land considered as a modern epic of the English literature. The best example of modernist literature is T. S. Eliot's “The waste land”. Throughout this poem Eliot shows us the real image of culture and society after the World War 1 and 2 .

        

                This poem depicts an image of the modern world through the perspective of a man finding himself hopeless and confused about the condition of the society.

“The waste land illustrates the contemporary waste land as a metaphor of modern Europe.”

              

                   Eliot’s the waste land is very hard to describe and analysis because this poem mainly deals with the idea of modern age and its new technique. In this poem the waste land there are so many features and influence of the modern age, and we can apply some of the characteristics of the modern age in this poem the waste land.

                                   The Waste Land is a modern epic because it highlights modern problems, has many allusions to the classical literature as well as is an outcome of a Modernist outlook. It also shows the downfall of the individuals in a democratic manner while it gives solution to the modern issues in classical means. 

       2】 Give your comments on the five parts of the poem.

             The Waste Land is one of the most important poems of 20th century. It is the central work in modern poetry. Basically it divided into five parts .

The five parts of The Waste Land are entitled:

• The Burial of the Dead.
• A Game of Chess.
• The Fire Sermon.
• Death by Water.
• What the Thunder Said.  

【1】The Burial of the Dead :- 

          

The Burial of the Dead’ establishes some of the core themes of The Waste Land: death, burial, rebirth. It also hints at the impact of the First World War on the people of Europe. This analysis of ‘The Burial of the Dead’ highlights all of the curious ways in which things which are dead won’t lie down, but get up and walk again.

  The Burial of the Dead, reveals the degeneration and rootlessness of the modern man and his civilization. The modern man has lost faith in moral spiritual values. He has indulged himself in sex, gambling and violence, which have dried up sources of his vitality. His rebirth is possible only through the revival of spiritual and moral values. 

 【2】 A Game Of Chess :- 

      

          

                               

A Game of Chess' is, in the last analysis, chiefly about two very different women in the modern world and their unfulfilling relationships with men. They are both trapped in a cycle of repetition. The only escape is death, and that seems unthinkable.

In A Game of Chess, the poet indicates the failure of sex-relationship in the modern world. Sex has become a mere act of entertainment and has lost its moral and social purpose . This perversion of sex has made modern life utterly unproductive and desolate.

【3】The Fire Sermon :-

                                        

The title of this, the longest section of The Waste Land, is taken from a sermon given by Buddha in which he encourages his followers to give up earthly passion (symbolized by fire) and seek freedom from earthly things.

    The Fire Sermon, shows that lust and rape are responsible for the decay of modern society. And this kind of degeneration prevails in all classes of modern society. The poet prays to God to save the modern civilization from lust and spiritual degeneration. 

【4】 Death by Water :- 

       

The shortest section of the poem, “Death by Water” describes a man, Phlebas the Phoenician, who has died, apparently by drowning. In death he has forgotten his worldly cares as the creatures of the sea have picked his body apart. The narrator asks his reader to consider Phlebas and recall his or her own mortality.

 Death by Water, the poet has suggested the significance of water as a means of purification and rebirth. He has also made two associations there. The first one is from Shakespeare’s The Tempest while the other one is from the ancient Egyptian myth of the god of fertility. 

The death of Phlebas, the Greek sailor, throws light on the life of people of modern people who devote themselves to worldly pursuit and meet death. There is no rebirth for such people because their life is devoid of moral values.

  【5】 What the Thunder Said :- 

The final section of The Waste Land is dramatic in both its imagery and its events.It suggests that there is a need of effort for the realization of the spiritual goal. 

The poet gives his own personal impression here. He says that it is impossible to reform the whole world and wonders where the change should begin from. Then he says that he must start with himself. He prescribes three remedies to gain spiritual peace and bliss, and ends the poem on a note of hope.

  

3 】Do you find any autobiographical elements in this poetic work? Explain it in detail.

                   The Waste Land is much connected with Eliot's personal life. We can see the autobiographical elements in the five parts of the poem. Let's see it :- 

 The first part : " The Burial Of The Dead " means - fertility God, burial service by Anglican Christian Church. 

This part is connected with Eliot's early life when he was not physically well. He is struggling from a congenital double inguinal hernia, so that Eliot could not participated in many physical activities and he was prevented from interacting socially with his peers.

Second part " A Game Of Chess " is from Middleton's play women beware women- related with sexual values - sex becomes the matter of intrigue and seduction - cause of spiritual death and dissolution. 

This part is connected with Eliot's marriage life with Vivienne. He married with Vivienne Heigh Wood in 1915. But their marriage became fail because of Vivienne's health issue and also her lack of affection from her husband.

Third part " The Fire Sermon " is about Buddha's sermon and sermon on the Mount. There is also description of fire of " Lust " and " Desire ". Our good inner ideas are burning because of lust.

Forth part " Death by Water " in this part there is Water traditional element of  purification and regeneration but in the waste land it is a matter of death and lost become a source of destruction.

Death By Water is based on Eliot's friendship with Jean Verdenal , was killed in 1915 in the war, in Paris.

In the final part of poem " What the Thunder Said " Here Thunder means - Akashwani in Upanishad Prajapati spoke in Thunder, to devotees are pointed out of the way of a salvation.  

• Here main matter is about depersonalization , is shown by Eliot. which is "  “a continual surrender of himself as he is at the moment to something which is more valuable. The progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality.”

• Here Eliot expresses his emotions , experiences and feelings though the poem The Waste Land. But it is not his personality.

• Eliot was born in Eliot Brahmin family in Boston with roots in England. Eliot grew up in two contrast culture as his father was successful businessman and his grandfather  established a Unitarian Church to St. Louis.

• Eliot got knowledge of philosophy from philosopher Henri Bergson in France.

• Eliot became a victim of jealousy and tolerance because of his unsuccessful marriage with Vivienne.

• Literature was an essential part of Eliot's childhood and surrounding atmosphere of him beside the big river in St. Louis.
• When he was in his sixties he wrote a private latter to Vivienne as he was in love with her and stayed in England only because of her. Marriage with Vivienne brought no happiness but the mindset of Eliot produced " The Waste Land ".

• Eliot's personal emotions and feelings drawn many images in front of  a world. It is unmasks the man behind.

                                        Eliot's love dies ,

The Waste Land develops . "

These lines shows, moral and ideas of poem The waste land. Eliot expresses his feelings through this poem. It is also shows us that how poet surrendered his life in the process of creation.

4】"Life in Death and Death in Life " Explain these theme with the reference of the poem The Waste Land.

There are four sections and the two, of them “The burial of the Dead” and “Death by Water” refer specifically to this theme ‘Death’. There is complicate matter like death can mean life as in other words by dying a human being can pave the way for new lives. 

The poet asks his friend: “and the same way Christ, redeemed humanity and there by gave new life. The doubtful part of the poem is between life and death allusions to Dante, and especially in the limbo-like vision of the men flowing across London Bridge and through the modern city.

The theme of the poem is the spiritual and emotional barrenness of the modern world. This theme is like the living death of the modern Waste Landers. Man has lost of vitality of spiritual and vitality of emotional. The life in modern waste land is a life-in-death, a living death. 

According to Eliot’s philosophy, Human being must act do either evil as good and it is better to do evil than do nothing. Modern man has lost his sense of good and evil, and this keeps him from being alive. In the modern land the people are dead. They merely exist like dead things. They work as machine.

They are to be compared to such dead things as a stick, a gutter, a pipe. A life of complete inactivity is listlessness and apathy. That is way winter is welcome to them and April is the crudest of months.

The Christ images in the poem, along with the many other religious metaphors, posit rebirth and resurrection as central tthemes. The Waste Land lies fallow and the Fisher King is impotent; what is needed is a new beginning. Water, for one, can bring about that rebirth, but it can also destroy. What the poet must finally turn to is Heaven, in the climactic exchange with the skies: “Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata.” 

Eliot’s vision is essentially of a world that is neither dying nor living; to break the spell, a profound change, perhaps an ineffable one, is required. Hence the prevalence of Grail imagery in the poem; that holy chalice can restore life and wipe the slate clean; likewise, Eliot refers frequently to baptisms and to rivers – both “life-givers,” in either spiritual or physical ways.

5】 " April is the cruellest month "; " Santih , Santih , Santih ". Explain these two lines and its mythical meaning. In which context it is used in the poem.

               " April is the cruellest month " :- 

April is the cruellest month’ is the opening line to T. S. Eliot’s 1922 poem The Waste Land. To understand why April the “cruelest month” for Eliot, we need to understand that he is not making a general argument about Aprilness. April is not inherently cruel. But Eliot is ventriloquizing on behalf of the inhabitants of the world of his poem — a bizarre, high-Modernist fantasy realm called “the Waste Land” — a land that has been profoundly shaped by a global pandemic. 

Eliot wrote his famous poem in the aftermath of the last global pandemic to shut down the world. He and his wife caught the Spanish Flu in December of 1918, and he wrote much of the poem during his recovery.

      This is a world of both history and myth. Historically, Eliot constructed his world out of pieces of London during and immediately after the Spanish Flu. Between 1918 and 1920, as many as one hundred million people across the globe died from the Spanish Flu, far more than were killed in World War I. In England, a quarter of the population came down with the disease, and more than 200,000 people died. The heavy death toll did much more than even the carnage of war to shape Eliot’s masterpiece.

So why is April the cruelest month in the Waste Land? Because, in the non-Wasteland, it is a time of fecundity and renewal. It is (in the latitudes that Eliot knew) when the snow melts, the flowers start to grow again, and people plant their crops and look forward to a harvest. April is when the hearts of the young turn to thoughts of love. And, truth be told, the hearts of the old aren’t usually very far away. April is when we dare to hope.

In the Waste Land, nothing can be crueler than hope, since it can only lead to disappointment. It always leads to disappointment. In the Waste Land, hope hurts, and April hurts most of all by mocking us with possibilities that can never be realized.

And not just in the Waste Land, either. The more I have read the opening lines of Eliot’s great poem, the more I have realized just what a dangerous emotion the great theological virtue of hope can be. Cynicism and irony are safe. To hope, one must open the door to disappointment, rejection, and disbelief.

" Santih Santih Santih " :- 

The last line of The Waste Land has the singular distinction of Thaving baffled the best commentators on the poem. On the one hand, their bafflement results in absolute incomprehension as in George Williamson's equation of "shantih" with the mad raving of Hieronymo, or in such suspicion as A. D. Moody's "that the Sanskrit is meant not to be readily understood" by Western readers. 

On the other hand, a commentator like David Ward wonders why a poem "so little like the Upanishads in its moral and spiritual universe" ends with the "blessing or greeting of peace." 

 The last three words in the poem shows Indian mythology. The one word "Shantih" three time use by poet. The word has deep mean. The word poet derives from Brihdaranyaka Upnishad. 

The word "Shantih" indicate the meaning "peace". The first word Shantih means material peace, second word means philosophical peace and the third word means spiritual peace. The peace that passes understanding. Through this ending line poet shows pathway of spiritual regeneration. 

This all about the great epic poem , "The waste land ". Here we conclude thinking activities as a assignment task . 

Thank you...