"The Burial of the Dead" Annotations
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(→Decoding "The Burial of the Dead" by Courtney Handy) |
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Go back to [[Shoring Up Fragments Against Our Ruin: Quotations and Allusions]] | Go back to [[Shoring Up Fragments Against Our Ruin: Quotations and Allusions]] | ||
| + | ==[[Decoding "The Burial of the Dead"]] by Courtney Handy== | ||
| + | [[Decoding "The Burial of the Dead"]] is an original essay in progress which looks at the hidden | ||
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| + | Biblical language of "The Burial of the Dead" using Biblical allusions used in the Anglican service | ||
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| + | [[Order for the Burial of the Dead]], as well as the Biblical allusions central to the section | ||
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| + | itself, as catalogued below. By concentrating on frequently occurring terms in these Biblical | ||
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| + | allusions, and cross-referencing them, as well as by a literary comparison of the "Order" and of | ||
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| + | the "Burial," the essay attempts to address Eliot's complex vision of the future of the Western | ||
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| + | world, as it emerges from the ruins of social decay. | ||
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| + | I will look specifically at tone words and how frequently they occur, versus how the Biblical allusions lend to an understanding of this | ||
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| + | section of the poem. | ||
==Title: "The Burial of the Dead"== | ==Title: "The Burial of the Dead"== | ||
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This alludes to the beginnings of a national, and perhaps racial, identity for Europeans, which possibly also includes the loss of a greater, perhaps more valuable, cohesive European quality. | This alludes to the beginnings of a national, and perhaps racial, identity for Europeans, which possibly also includes the loss of a greater, perhaps more valuable, cohesive European quality. | ||
| − | ===Lines 13-18=== | + | ===Lines 13-18, Countess Marie Larisch=== |
And when we were children, staying at the archduke's, | And when we were children, staying at the archduke's, | ||
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This makes her cousin the Archduke Rudolf, whom she helped to conceal his affair. This draws in issues of fertility, legitimacy, betrayal, and deception. | This makes her cousin the Archduke Rudolf, whom she helped to conceal his affair. This draws in issues of fertility, legitimacy, betrayal, and deception. | ||
| − | Valerie Eliot maintained that this excerpt of Larisch's speech came not from her biography, ''My Past'', as many supposed, but actually came directly from a conversation that T.S. Eliot had with Larisch. | + | Valerie Eliot maintained that this excerpt of Larisch's speech came not from her biography, ''My Past'', as many supposed, but actually came directly from a conversation that T.S. Eliot had with Larisch. |
== Stanza 2 == | == Stanza 2 == | ||
===Lines 19-30, Biblical Rhetoric=== | ===Lines 19-30, Biblical Rhetoric=== | ||
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| + | <html> | ||
| + | <iframe width="950" height="475" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=205087301525898876143.0004ce7a87cebcebc70e2&hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=p&ll=30.807911,39.375&spn=8.939506,20.852051&z=6&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=205087301525898876143.0004ce7a87cebcebc70e2&hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=p&ll=30.807911,39.375&spn=8.939506,20.852051&z=6&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">The Burial of the Dead</a> in a larger map</small> | ||
| + | </html> | ||
What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow | What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow | ||
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::::enough to dare to listen, but when Ezekiel hears God's message, it is only one of woe. | ::::enough to dare to listen, but when Ezekiel hears God's message, it is only one of woe. | ||
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| + | :::: [[Luke 22]], among others, also calls Jesus the "son of man" so its an even greater burden than prophecy--it could be literal self-sacrifice for the truth. | ||
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Hyacinth was a companion of Apollo that was killed by Apollo's stray discus. Hyacinth's blood miraculously generated a flower, which Apollo inscribed with his grief, explaining the patterning of the flower which seems to say "ai" the traditional Greek expression of grief. Apollo, the representative of high culture and prophecy, betrays his adherent, representing the cultural dilemma that concerns Eliot--that high culture has left Europe. | Hyacinth was a companion of Apollo that was killed by Apollo's stray discus. Hyacinth's blood miraculously generated a flower, which Apollo inscribed with his grief, explaining the patterning of the flower which seems to say "ai" the traditional Greek expression of grief. Apollo, the representative of high culture and prophecy, betrays his adherent, representing the cultural dilemma that concerns Eliot--that high culture has left Europe. | ||
| − | ===Lines 37-41=== | + | ===Lines 37-41, ''The Inferno'' and "Job 8"=== |
- Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden, | - Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden, | ||
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Looking into the heart of light, the silence. | Looking into the heart of light, the silence. | ||
| − | ===Line 42=== | + | This is a textual reference to Dante Alighieri's ''Inferno.'' |
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| + | ::"How chilled and faint I turned then. Do not ask, reader, for I cannot describe it, for all speech would fail it. I did not die, and did nor remain alive." | ||
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| + | It could also possibly be a reference to [[Job 8]]:9. | ||
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| + | ::"We are but of yesterday, and know nothing ,because our days on Earth are but a shadow." | ||
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| + | ===Line 42, Tristan and Isolde=== | ||
''Od' und leer das Meer.'' | ''Od' und leer das Meer.'' | ||
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| + | '''Translation''' | ||
| + | ::::''Desolate and empty the sea'' | ||
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| + | This refers back to lines 31-34, and it refers to Isolde's failure to arrive by ship to save Tristan from death. | ||
== Stanza 3 == | == Stanza 3 == | ||
| − | ===Lines 43- | + | ===Lines 43-59, Tarot and Mythology=== |
Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante, | Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante, | ||
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Is your card, the drowned Phoenician Sailor, | Is your card, the drowned Phoenician Sailor, | ||
(Those are pearls that were his eyes. Look!) | (Those are pearls that were his eyes. Look!) | ||
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Here is Belladonna, the Lady of the Rocks, | Here is Belladonna, the Lady of the Rocks, | ||
| − | The lady of situations. | + | The lady of situations. 5 |
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Here is the man with three staves, and here the Wheel, | Here is the man with three staves, and here the Wheel, | ||
And here is the one-eyed merchant, and this card, | And here is the one-eyed merchant, and this card, | ||
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Which I am forbidden to see. I do not find | Which I am forbidden to see. I do not find | ||
The Hanged Man. Fear death by water. | The Hanged Man. Fear death by water. | ||
| + | I see crowds of people, walking round in a ring. | ||
| + | Thank you. If you see dear Mrs. Equitone, | ||
| + | Tell her I bring the horoscope myself: | ||
| + | One must be so careful these days. | ||
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| − | + | Important references include Sir James Frazer’s The Golden Bough, the Major and Minor Arcana of Tarot, Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Virgin of the Rocks” also known as the “Madonna of the Rocks,” botany, religion, and classical figures/allusions. | |
| + | Sosostris is meant to be a mock-Egyptian name, alluding to the common practice in mysticism of renaming oneself a “spiritual name.” Since Eliot proceeds to talk about how the “famous clairvoyante” had a bad cold, he seems to undercut this mysticism, drawing Madame Sosostris in pitiful and somewhat desperate lines. In fact, it appears that she fears her reception by the general public, telling the narrator (Marie?) to inform Mrs. Equitone that she brings her own horoscope to mystical meetings, because “One must be so careful these days.” Perhaps this refers to the complete saturation of the mysticism market during the first half of the 20th century, or perhaps this refers to the deterioration and crock-pottery of the trade in general, whereas Madame Sosostris considers herself authentic. | ||
| + | The pack of cards that she has is “wicked,” which, although I am inclined to say that it means “really cool,” retained a more sinister meaning in 1922 when this was published. According to the OED, it meant : | ||
| + | Bad in moral character, disposition, or conduct; inclined or addicted to wilful wrong-doing; practising or disposed to practise evil; morally depraved. (A term of wide application, but always of strong reprobation, implying a high degree of evil quality.) | ||
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| + | In this way, it appears that the narrator believes the cards to be evil, or morally depraved. And yet, the narrator comes to Madame Sosostris to get a reading, implying that the narrator must be truly desperate to know his/her future. | ||
| + | Madame Sosostris uses a six-card reading. In order to understand the fullest extent of this reading, an understanding of the most popular six-card spread is useful: the Celtic Cross. Here I use a Tarot Teachings website. | ||
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| − | + | 1. The Drowned Phoenician Sailor: the “You” Card. Indicates the person’s current situation. Phlebas the Phoenician and Mr. Eugenides, the Smyrna merchant are both possible candidates for this position. Whether the client is literally one of these figures, or whether the client is like one of these figures, is unsure. | |
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| − | + | 2. Belladonna, or the Lady of the Rocks: the “crux” of the issue. The conflict. “Belladonna” means “beautiful lady” but it is also a poisonous plant. And the Lady of the Rocks is most probably the Virgin Mary—Belladonna or Madonna. Sweet poison or sanctified chastity. She is the “lady of situations” because she is the conflict, the decision to be made (line 50). | |
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| + | 3. The Man with Three Staves, or, the three of wands, or, according to Eliot, the Fisher King: the challenge. The Fisher King is a symbol of life, but is wounded, incapable of moving on his own. His weakness as king reduces his kingdom to…a Waste Land! The Three of Wands, however, symbolizes the beginning of an enterprise, looking forward to a journey or task. There is hope for the dead land, if only the Fisher King can be helped to heal. Perhaps the Fisher King is western culture? | ||
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| + | 4. The Wheel (probably the tarot Wheel of Fortune, but also the sign of man’s invention): Conscious—what you have control or awareness of. Really, this indicates that the client has control over the whole situation, as well as how she/he understands and acts upon the reading (of six cards, like the six spokes of the wheel). Additionally, the client (possibly Western Culture) has control over their own ingenuity (the object of the wheel-invention) and so, can use their skills to better the situation. | ||
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| + | 5. One-eyed merchant: the Unconscious/Subconscious. Our unknown, internal ally. While there are several possible interpretations of the one-eyed merchant (available here), I find Odin to be the most productive, meaningful explanation for this particular card. He is associated with fury, excitation, prophecy, magic, the hunt, the mind, and poetry—the working of the Cultural mind. We should listen to art, because it is the way out of the Waste Land and to cultural fertility. | ||
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| + | 6. Blank card: Outcome—ties up loose ends. It is appropriate that this be blank, but it is on the back of the subconscious, and relies on the work of the subconscious. | ||
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| + | The fact that she does not find the Hanged Man, who to Eliot represents the self-sacrifice of a fertility god to bring the Waste Land back to life, possibly indicates that it will not be like the second coming of Christ—there is no one distinct savior. I am unsure as to what “fear death by water” means, but water without growth to feed becomes a killing rather than nourishing force (like a flash flood, in a sense). SO GROW! THINK! CREATE! The end is possibly positive. Sosostris sees people walking around in a circle—perhaps they ring around the maypole celebrating fertility and the coming spring. | ||
== Stanza 4 == | == Stanza 4 == | ||
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| − | ===Lines 60-63=== | + | ===Lines 60-63, Baudelaire=== |
Unreal City, 60 | Unreal City, 60 | ||
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I had not thought death had undone so many. | I had not thought death had undone so many. | ||
| − | ===Lines 64-65=== | + | |
| + | This section recalls Charles Baudelaire's poem [["Des Sept Viellards"]] in language. | ||
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| + | It speaks to a proliferation of men, each a twin of the other, who look like death, much to the horror of the author. It shows Eliot's concern that society is composed of the living dead, and is crippled by the infertility and senility thereof. | ||
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| + | ===Lines 64-65, ''The Inferno''=== | ||
Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled, | Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled, | ||
And each man fixed his eyes before his feet. | And each man fixed his eyes before his feet. | ||
| − | ===Lines 66-68=== | + | This section recalls Dante Alighieri's ''The Inferno.'' The first circle of Hell, filled with the unbaptized, is limbo, where each soul spends eternity fretting about their fate, because like Sybil they "have no hope of death, and so abject is their blind life that they are envious of every other lot." |
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| + | Life is stagnated at this period--men are stuck mentally in the realm of death, and yet they live. Women seem incapable of associating and rejuvenating the men. In a sense, the whole of society is in limbo. | ||
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| + | ===Lines 66-68, London Architecture=== | ||
Flowed up the hill and down King William Street, | Flowed up the hill and down King William Street, | ||
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With a dead sound on the final stroke of nine. | With a dead sound on the final stroke of nine. | ||
| − | ===Lines 69- | + | King William Street extends from London Bridge into the City--the financial district. From water, to artifice. Saint Mary Woolnoth is a church in the City, dwarfed by office buildings, demonstrating the business-like indifference of religion. |
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| + | ===Lines 69-70, Punic War=== | ||
There I saw one I knew, and stopped him, crying "Stetson! | There I saw one I knew, and stopped him, crying "Stetson! | ||
"You who were with me in the ships at Mylae! 70 | "You who were with me in the ships at Mylae! 70 | ||
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| + | Mylae was the first engagement of the Punic War between Rome and Carthage in 260 BCE. Stetson, means "son of Stephen" and since "Stephen" means "crown," it means "Son of the Crown," having to do with nobility. | ||
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| + | ===Lines 71-73, "The Burial of the Dead" Stanza 1=== | ||
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"That corpse you planted last year in your garden, | "That corpse you planted last year in your garden, | ||
"Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year? | "Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year? | ||
"Or has the sudden frost disturbed its bed? | "Or has the sudden frost disturbed its bed? | ||
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| + | This recalls the beginning April stirs "dull roots with spring rain," because winter only keeps the dead warm. After the massive death toll of the Great War, the person wonders if there is any hope for growth. | ||
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| + | ===Lines 74-75, [[''The White Devil'']]=== | ||
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"Oh keep the Dog far hence, that's friend to men, | "Oh keep the Dog far hence, that's friend to men, | ||
| − | "Or with his nails he'll dig it up again! | + | "Or with his nails he'll dig it up again!" |
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| + | This is an excerpt John Websters '''The White Devil.''' This section is part of a mother's lamentation about her son's murder by her other son. Fratricide is also a word used to describe the war. In this case, the betrayal that wrought about the fratricide was both sexual and political. | ||
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| + | ===Line 76, Baudelaire=== | ||
"You! hypocrite lecteur! ''- mon semblable, - mon frere''!" | "You! hypocrite lecteur! ''- mon semblable, - mon frere''!" | ||
| + | Here Eliot recalls Baudelaire's [["Au Lecteur"]]. As in "Des Sept Viellards," the poem bemoans the stagnancy of life, alluding to the river of the dead walking about, bored, lifeless, indulging in petty, damning sin. This is very much Eliot's message as well. However, here both poets seem to allude to a complicity with the reader of their poems. Having read the criticism, perhaps the reader is awakened from the stream of death. Revitalized. Maybe the poem is April, "stirring dull roots with spring rain/mixing memory and desire." | ||
Go to [[The Waste Land Text]] | Go to [[The Waste Land Text]] | ||
Go back to [[Shoring Up Fragments Against Our Ruin: Quotations and Allusions]] | Go back to [[Shoring Up Fragments Against Our Ruin: Quotations and Allusions]] | ||
