Topic : The Waste Land

Main text

‘Nam Sibyllam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis meis vidi in ampulla pendere, et cum illi pueri dicerent: Σίβυλλα τί θέλεις; respondebat illa: άποθανεîν θέλω.’ For Ezra Pound il miglior fabbro.                   I. The Burial of the Dead April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers. Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade, And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten, And drank coffee, [...]

Key info

The Waste Land is a remarkable modernist poem by Thomas Stearns Eliot. Look at the key facts of the poem to get a quick idea.

• Original Title:  He Do the Police in Different Voices
• Writer: Thomas Stearns Eliot OM (26 September 1888 – 4 January 1965)
• Written Date: Autumn 1921
• Publication Date:  October 1922

Summary

The term 'wasteland' refers to the symbolic representation of modern civilization's spiritual and social degradation. The poem contains the post-World War I world, full of desolation, fragmentation, and barrenness. Eliot uses various mythologies, literary allusions, and historical allusions to draw a modern, unfertile society. The wasteland is a metaphor for a society that is out of its purpose and becomes disconnected from the past. It draws a world that has lost its connection and understanding among its people. Overall, the poem serves the ill features of the modern 20th century and its people.