"What the Thunder Said" Annotations
From The Waste Land Wiki
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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]] | ||
| + | ==Title "What the Thunder Said"== | ||
| + | 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== | ||
| − | ===Lines 322-330=== | + | ===Lines 322-330, Biblical Imagery=== |
| + | <html> | ||
| + | <iframe width="950" height="475" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=205087301525898876143.0004cff889f29073d3cac&hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=p&ll=31.765829,35.289116&spn=0.13865,0.325813&z=12&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=205087301525898876143.0004cff889f29073d3cac&hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=p&ll=31.765829,35.289116&spn=0.13865,0.325813&z=12&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">What the Thunder Said</a> in a larger map</small> | ||
| + | </html> | ||
After the torchlight red on sweaty faces | After the torchlight red on sweaty faces | ||
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After the frosty silence in the gardens | After the frosty silence in the gardens | ||
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After the agony in stony places | After the agony in stony places | ||
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The shouting and the crying | The shouting and the crying | ||
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Prison and palace and reverberation | Prison and palace and reverberation | ||
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Of thunder of spring over distant mountains | Of thunder of spring over distant mountains | ||
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He who was living is now dead | He who was living is now dead | ||
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We who were living are now dying | We who were living are now dying | ||
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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== | ||
| − | ===Lines 331- | + | ===Lines 331-359=== |
Here is no water but only rock | Here is no water but only rock | ||
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From doors of mudcracked houses | From doors of mudcracked houses | ||
If there were water | If there were water | ||
| − | And no rock | + | And no rock |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
If there were rock | If there were rock | ||
And also water | And also water | ||
| Line 55: | Line 58: | ||
A spring | A spring | ||
A pool among the rock | A pool among the rock | ||
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If there were the sound of water only | If there were the sound of water only | ||
Not the cicada | Not the cicada | ||
| Line 68: | Line 68: | ||
==Stanza 3== | ==Stanza 3== | ||
| − | ===Lines 360-366=== | + | ===Lines 360-366, Emmaus & Shackleton=== |
Who is the third who walks always beside you? 360 | Who is the third who walks always beside you? 360 | ||
| Line 77: | 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? | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''[[Luke 24]]: 13''' | ||
| + | |||
| + | 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== | ||
| − | ===Lines 367- | + | ===Lines 367-377=== |
What is that sound high in the air | What is that sound high in the air | ||
Murmur of maternal lamentation | Murmur of maternal lamentation | ||
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Who are those hooded hordes swarming | Who are those hooded hordes swarming | ||
Over endless plains, stumbling in cracked earth 370 | Over endless plains, stumbling in cracked earth 370 | ||
Ringed by the flat horizon only | Ringed by the flat horizon only | ||
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What is the city over the mountains | What is the city over the mountains | ||
Cracks and reforms and bursts in the violet air | Cracks and reforms and bursts in the violet air | ||
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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== | ||
| − | ===Lines 378- | + | ===Lines 378-385=== |
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 | ||
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And bats with baby faces in the violet light 380 | And bats with baby faces in the violet light 380 | ||
Whistled, and beat their wings | Whistled, and beat their wings | ||
And crawled head downward down a blackened wall | And crawled head downward down a blackened wall | ||
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And upside down in air were towers | And upside down in air were towers | ||
Tolling reminiscent bells, that kept the hours | Tolling reminiscent bells, that kept the hours | ||
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==Stanza 6== | ==Stanza 6== | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===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 130: | 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== | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Lines 396-400, India & ''Upanishads''=== | ||
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Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves | Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves | ||
Waited for rain, while the black clouds | Waited for rain, while the black clouds | ||
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The jungle crouched, humped in silence. | The jungle crouched, humped in silence. | ||
Then spoke the thunder 400 | Then spoke the thunder 400 | ||
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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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| + | When the thunder begins to speak, it enlists [["The Fable of the Meaning of Thunder"]]. | ||
| + | :"Da" is the beginning of the thunder's voice. | ||
| + | :"Damyata" is what Prajapati says to the gods, as a word of advice. It means "control yourselves," perhaps because the gods are especially unruly. | ||
| + | :"Datta" is what Prajapati says to men, as a word of advice. It means "give," perhaps because humans are especially greedy. | ||
| + | :"Dayadhvam" is what Prajapati says to demons, as a word of advice. It means "be compassionate," perhaps because demons are especially evil. | ||
| + | |||
| + | 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. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Lines 401-410, [[''The White Devil'']]=== | ||
| + | |||
DA | DA | ||
Datta: what have we given? | Datta: what have we given? | ||
| Line 147: | Line 172: | ||
Or under seals broken by the lean solicitor | Or under seals broken by the lean solicitor | ||
In our empty rooms 410 | 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. | ||
| + | |||
| + | 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. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Lines 411-417, ''Inferno'' & Shakespeare=== | ||
DA | DA | ||
Dayadhvam: I have heard the key | Dayadhvam: I have heard the key | ||
| Line 154: | Line 185: | ||
Only at nightfall, aetherial rumours | Only at nightfall, aetherial rumours | ||
Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus | Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''Line 411: "I have heard the key"''' | ||
| + | |||
| + | 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. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Lines 418-423=== | ||
DA | DA | ||
Damyata: The boat responded | Damyata: The boat responded | ||
| Line 162: | Line 209: | ||
==Stanza 8== | ==Stanza 8== | ||
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| + | ===Lines 424-426, Fisher King=== | ||
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I sat upon the shore | I sat upon the shore | ||
Fishing, with the arid plain behind me | Fishing, with the arid plain behind me | ||
Shall I at least set my lands in order? | Shall I at least set my lands in order? | ||
| + | |||
| + | 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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| + | ===Line 427, Nursery Rhyme=== | ||
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London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down | London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down | ||
| − | Poi s'ascose nel foco che gli affina | + | |
| − | Quando fiam ceu chelidon - O swallow swallow | + | This nursery rhyme throws the dark tone of the fall of European civilization into a spiral. |
| − | Le Prince d'Aquitaine a la tour abolie 430 | + | |
| + | ===Lines 428-430, ''Purgatorio,'' "Pervigilium Veneris," "O Swallow, Swallow," "El Desdichado"=== | ||
| + | |||
| + | ''Poi s'ascose nel foco che gli affina'' | ||
| + | ''Quando fiam ceu chelidon - O swallow swallow'' | ||
| + | ''Le Prince d'Aquitaine a la tour abolie'' 430 | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''Line 428''' | ||
| + | '''Translation: ''Poin s'ascose nel foco che gli affina''''' | ||
| + | ::"Then he vanished into the fire that refines them." Eliot's note cites Dante, ''Purgatorio'' | ||
| + | |||
| + | ::::"No I beseech you, by that virtue | ||
| + | ::::which conducts you to the summit of the steps [in Purgatory], | ||
| + | ::::at times bethink yourself of my suffering.' | ||
| + | ::::Then he vanished into the fire that refines them. | ||
| + | |||
| + | 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 | These fragments I have shored against my ruins | ||
Why then Ile fit you. Hieronymo's mad againe. | 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. | Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata. | ||
Shantih shantih shantih | 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." | ||
