"The Burial of the Dead" Annotations
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(→Lines 19-30, Biblical Rhetoric) |
(→Lines 19-30, Biblical Rhetoric) |
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::::Is the rock a shelter (Isaiah 2), or a hiding place (Isaiah 32)? Is it a place to hide from the Waste Land, a place of salvation, or a place of fear? Further, one must go under the rock either because the Lord is humbling man for his | ::::Is the rock a shelter (Isaiah 2), or a hiding place (Isaiah 32)? Is it a place to hide from the Waste Land, a place of salvation, or a place of fear? Further, one must go under the rock either because the Lord is humbling man for his | ||
::::arrogance, or else is the "rock" a messiah, or Fisher King character that will bring the people out of the darkness. Further, the latter half of Isaiah 32 blames female complacency for the barrenness of the land, perhaps alluding to the complacency of post-war women and their failure to rejuvenate the veterans returning home, thus dooming Europe. | ::::arrogance, or else is the "rock" a messiah, or Fisher King character that will bring the people out of the darkness. Further, the latter half of Isaiah 32 blames female complacency for the barrenness of the land, perhaps alluding to the complacency of post-war women and their failure to rejuvenate the veterans returning home, thus dooming Europe. | ||
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| + | However, line 30 relates back to the epigraph, where a handful of dust, or sand, dooms Sybil to an extremely long life, but one barren of beauty and pleasure. It also brings to mind "ashes to ashes, dust to dust," alluding to man's | ||
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| + | mortality. | ||
===Lines 31-34=== | ===Lines 31-34=== | ||
