"What the Thunder Said" Annotations

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(→‎Stanza 6)
(→‎Lines 322-330, Biblical Imagery)
 
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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]]
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==Title "What the Thunder Said"==
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The title is taken from [["The Fable of the Meaning of Thunder"]] part of the ''Brihadaranyaka Upanishad'', a sacred sanskrit text of the eight and seventh centuries BCE, first translated 1817-1818.
  
 
==Stanza 1==
 
==Stanza 1==
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===Lines 322-330, Biblical Imagery===
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<html>
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<iframe width="950" height="475" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&amp;msid=205087301525898876143.0004cff889f29073d3cac&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;t=p&amp;ll=31.765829,35.289116&amp;spn=0.13865,0.325813&amp;z=12&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&amp;msid=205087301525898876143.0004cff889f29073d3cac&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;t=p&amp;ll=31.765829,35.289116&amp;spn=0.13865,0.325813&amp;z=12&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">What the Thunder Said</a> in a larger map</small>
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</html>
  
 
     After the torchlight red on sweaty faces
 
     After the torchlight red on sweaty faces
Line 14: Line 22:
 
     We who were living are now dying
 
     We who were living are now dying
 
     With a little patience 330
 
     With a little patience 330
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'''[[John 18]]:3'''
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The scene in the poem draws its imagery from the garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus was betrayed.  However, the entirety of John 18 focuses on the denial of Christ, by Peter and by the Jewish people, who choose a criminal over him.  This is more imagery of betrayal, wherein the common people (gentile or Jew) refute truth and accept sin. 
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'''[[Luke 22]]:44''' 
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More imagery about the betrayal of Christ, but also an inclusion of the Last Supper--a holy ritual that utilizes imagery of blood and flesh as a kind of sacrifice.
  
 
==Stanza 2==
 
==Stanza 2==
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===Lines 331-359===
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     Here is no water but only rock
 
     Here is no water but only rock
 
     Rock and no water and the sandy road
 
     Rock and no water and the sandy road
Line 32: Line 52:
 
     From doors of mudcracked houses
 
     From doors of mudcracked houses
 
     If there were water
 
     If there were water
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     And no rock
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     And no rock  
 
     If there were rock
 
     If there were rock
 
     And also water
 
     And also water
Line 47: Line 67:
  
 
==Stanza 3==
 
==Stanza 3==
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===Lines 360-366, Emmaus & Shackleton===
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     Who is the third who walks always beside you? 360
 
     Who is the third who walks always beside you? 360
 
     When I count, there are only you and I together
 
     When I count, there are only you and I together
Line 54: Line 77:
 
     I do not know whether a man or a woman
 
     I do not know whether a man or a woman
 
     - But who is that on the other side of you?
 
     - But who is that on the other side of you?
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'''[[Luke 24]]: 13'''
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The messiah appears on the road to Emmaus, but the two do not recognize him, until he breaks bread with them.  Interestingly, it is the women that assure the disciples that Jesus will rise on the third day, refusing to believe that he is truly dead.  Perhaps Eliot thinks there may be hope yet for women to bring their men back mentally?
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'''''[[South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition'' 1914-1917''']]
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Shackleton and his men survive the journey across forbidding ice, a kind of natural wasteland, and felt the entire time that someone else was present.  The language is similar to Eliot's.
  
 
==Stanza 4==
 
==Stanza 4==
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===Lines 367-377===
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     What is that sound high in the air
 
     What is that sound high in the air
 
     Murmur of maternal lamentation
 
     Murmur of maternal lamentation
Line 67: Line 102:
 
     Vienna London
 
     Vienna London
 
     Unreal
 
     Unreal
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Eliot said that this was inspired by Hermann Hesse's ''A Look into Chaos: Three Essays'' which discussed the collapse of the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires.  Of course, collapse of society and its consecutive spiral into chaos is a major concern of Eliot's.
  
 
==Stanza 5==
 
==Stanza 5==
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===Lines 378-385===
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     A woman drew her long black hair out tight
 
     A woman drew her long black hair out tight
 
     And fiddled whisper music on those strings
 
     And fiddled whisper music on those strings
Line 75: Line 115:
 
     And crawled head downward down a blackened wall
 
     And crawled head downward down a blackened wall
 
     And upside down in air were towers
 
     And upside down in air were towers
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  Tolling reminiscent bells, that kept the hours
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    Tolling reminiscent bells, that kept the hours
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  And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells.
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    And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells.
  
 
==Stanza 6==
 
==Stanza 6==
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===Lines 386-395, Chapel Perilous===
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     In this decayed hole among the mountains
 
     In this decayed hole among the mountains
 
     In the faint moonlight, the grass is singing
 
     In the faint moonlight, the grass is singing
Line 89: Line 132:
 
     In a flash of lightning. Then a damp gust
 
     In a flash of lightning. Then a damp gust
 
     Bringing rain
 
     Bringing rain
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"Eliot's note at the beginningof part V states that 'the approach to the Chapel Perilous' is one of 'three themes' employed in this part's opening section (322-394), and he tells the reader to 'see Miss Weston's book.'  Weston's [[''From Ritual to Romance'']] devotes a chapter (chapter 13, 175-188)to 'The Perilous Chapel,' a motif which she summarizes in her opening paragraph" (Rainey 119).
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'''Lines 392-395'''
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This alludes to a rooster as a symbol of fertility, thus bringing rain to the dry land and helping it to generate life, perhaps.
  
 
==Stanza 7==
 
==Stanza 7==
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Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves
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−
Waited for rain, while the black clouds
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===Lines 396-400, India & ''Upanishads''===
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Gathered far distant, over Himavant.
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The jungle crouched, humped in silence.
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    Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves
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Then spoke the thunder 400
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    Waited for rain, while the black clouds
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DA
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    Gathered far distant, over Himavant.
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Datta: what have we given?
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    The jungle crouched, humped in silence.
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My friend, blood shaking my heart
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    Then spoke the thunder 400
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The awful daring of a moment's surrender
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−
Which an age of prudence can never retract
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The setting changes to India, then a part of the British Empire, so we are not far from British civilization, really.  "Ganga" is the Ganges, the sacred river of India, and "Himavant" is another word for snowy, making it any mountain.
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By this, and this only, we have existed
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−
Which is not to be found in our obituaries
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When the thunder begins to speak, it enlists [["The Fable of the Meaning of Thunder"]]. 
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Or in memories draped by the beneficent spider
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:"Da" is the beginning of the thunder's voice.
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Or under seals broken by the lean solicitor
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:"Damyata" is what Prajapati says to the gods, as a word of advice.  It means "control yourselves," perhaps because the gods are especially unruly.
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In our empty rooms 410
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:"Datta" is what Prajapati says to men, as a word of advice.  It means "give," perhaps because humans are especially greedy.
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DA
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:"Dayadhvam" is what Prajapati says to demons, as a word of advice.  It means "be compassionate," perhaps because demons are especially evil. 
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Dayadhvam: I have heard the key
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Turn in the door once and turn once only
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In essence, each of the words applies to a certain group in the world.  The order above is the one cited in the "Fable," but Eliot lists it as Datta, Dayadhvam, Damyata--from men, to demons, to gods--perhaps as a mode for human progress.  Give of yourselves, be compassionate, and gain control.
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We think of the key, each in his prison
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Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison
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===Lines 401-410, [[''The White Devil'']]===
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Only at nightfall, aetherial rumours
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−
Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus
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    DA
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DA
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    Datta: what have we given?
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Damyata: The boat responded
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    My friend, blood shaking my heart
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Gaily, to the hand expert with sail and oar 420
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    The awful daring of a moment's surrender
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The sea was calm, your heart would have responded
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    Which an age of prudence can never retract
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Gaily, when invited, beating obedient
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    By this, and this only, we have existed
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To controlling hands
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    Which is not to be found in our obituaries
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    Or in memories draped by the beneficent spider
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    Or under seals broken by the lean solicitor
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    In our empty rooms 410
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According to Eliot's notes, line 407 refers to John Webster's play [[''The White Devil'']] Act 5 Scene 6.  The villain Flamineo has prostituted his sister, and murdered both is brother and brother-in-law, yet he has the audacity to be horrified when his sister betrays him.
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I think in a sense, Eliot is coming to terms with what he sees as the betrayal of women, and notes that perhaps, men have something to be blamed for.
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===Lines 411-417, ''Inferno'' & Shakespeare===
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    DA
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    Dayadhvam: I have heard the key
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    Turn in the door once and turn once only
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    We think of the key, each in his prison
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    Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison
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    Only at nightfall, aetherial rumours
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    Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus
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'''Line 411: "I have heard the key"'''
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Eliot's note calls attention to ''Inferno'' 33:46-47, when Ugolino explains how Ruggieri shut him into a tower with his children, without any sustenance, and when his four children die, Ugolino eats their corpses. 
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This describes the terrible drive to survive that leads people to do inhuman things, and as a result, puts them into a private hell--the condition of the people around him. 
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'''Line 416: "a broken Coriolanus"'''
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''Coriolanus,'' by William Shakespeare, details how a general of Rome attempts to punish the people for being fickle, and so unites with Volscians to do so.  After punishing them, however, Coriolanus' wife, mother, and son convince him to refrain from sacking the city, and thus he earns the Volscians ire, and is hacked to death.
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If one condemns the people, and punishes them only half-heartedly, one suffers retribution from those who joined you in the violence, perhaps.
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===Lines 418-423===
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    DA
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    Damyata: The boat responded
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    Gaily, to the hand expert with sail and oar 420
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    The sea was calm, your heart would have responded
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    Gaily, when invited, beating obedient
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    To controlling hands
  
 
==Stanza 8==
 
==Stanza 8==
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I sat upon the shore
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−
Fishing, with the arid plain behind me
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===Lines 424-426, Fisher King===
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Shall I at least set my lands in order?
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−
London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down
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    I sat upon the shore
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Poi s'ascose nel foco che gli affina
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    Fishing, with the arid plain behind me
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Quando fiam ceu chelidon - O swallow swallow
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    Shall I at least set my lands in order?
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Le Prince d'Aquitaine a la tour abolie 430
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−
These fragments I have shored against my ruins
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In [[''From Ritual to Romance'']], Weston describes the Fisher King as one whose condition affects the fertility of his land.  A leader can come and by controlling himself, give order to the land.
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Why then Ile fit you. Hieronymo's mad againe.
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Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata.
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===Line 427, Nursery Rhyme===
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Shantih shantih shantih
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    London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down
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This nursery rhyme throws the dark tone of the fall of European civilization into a spiral.
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===Lines 428-430, ''Purgatorio,'' "Pervigilium Veneris," "O Swallow, Swallow," "El Desdichado"===
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    ''Poi s'ascose nel foco che gli affina''
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    ''Quando fiam ceu chelidon - O swallow swallow''
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    ''Le Prince d'Aquitaine a la tour abolie'' 430
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'''Line 428'''
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'''Translation: ''Poin s'ascose nel foco che gli affina'''''
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::"Then he vanished into the fire that refines them."  Eliot's note cites Dante, ''Purgatorio''
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::::"No I beseech you, by that virtue
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::::which conducts you to the summit of the steps [in Purgatory],
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::::at times bethink yourself of my suffering.'
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::::Then he vanished into the fire that refines them.
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Dante hears this from Arnault Daniel, to whom the ''Divine Comedy'' is dedicated.  See "The Waste Land's" [[Dedication Annotations]].
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'''Line 429'''
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According to Eliot's note, it comes from the Latin poem the [[''Pervigilium Veneris'']].  Because the town of Amyclae was silent, and there had been false alarms about enemy attacks, when the enemy did come to attack, the city fell because no one was willing to break the silence.  This reinforces Eliot's duty to call attention to the danger of the time.
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"O swallow swallow" many think, refers to Tennyson's poem [["O Swallow, Swallow"]].  However, aside from the title, it does not seem to have much in common. 
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'''Line 430'''
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Eliot refers to French poet Gerard de Nerval's poem [["El Desdichado"]] (1853).
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===Lines 431-432, ''The Spanish Tragedy''===
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    These fragments I have shored against my ruins
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    Why then Ile fit you. Hieronymo's mad againe.
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Eliot's note refers to [[''The Spanish Tragedy'']] IV.i.59-106.
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The way in which the characters formulate a tragedy and defend their formulation seems to be the same sorts of ideas that Eliot relied upon in the writing of "The Waste Land."
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===Lines 433-434, Sanskrit and the Bible===
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    Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata.
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    Shantih shantih shantih
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Give.  Be compassionate.  Self-control. 
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"The peace which passeth understanding" X 3. 
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'''[[Philippians 4]]:7'''
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"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Latest revision as of 20:41, 3 December 2012

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