"What the Thunder Said" Annotations
From The Waste Land Wiki
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===Lines 322-330, Biblical Imagery=== | ===Lines 322-330, Biblical Imagery=== | ||
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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&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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"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). | "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=== | + | ===Lines 396-400, India & ''Upanishads''=== |
Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves | Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves | ||
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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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| − | ===Lines 401-410=== | + | 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. | ||
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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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| + | ===Lines 401-410, [[''The White Devil'']]=== | ||
DA | DA | ||
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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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| − | ===Lines 411-417=== | + | 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=== | ||
DA | DA | ||
Dayadhvam: I have heard the key | Dayadhvam: I have heard the key | ||
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Only at nightfall, aetherial rumours | Only at nightfall, aetherial rumours | ||
Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus | 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=== | ===Lines 418-423=== | ||
DA | DA | ||
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==Stanza 8== | ==Stanza 8== | ||
| − | ===Lines 424-426=== | + | ===Lines 424-426, Fisher King=== |
I sat upon the shore | I sat upon the shore | ||
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Shall I at least set my lands in order? | Shall I at least set my lands in order? | ||
| − | ===Line 427=== | + | 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=== | ||
London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down | London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down | ||
| − | + | This nursery rhyme throws the dark tone of the fall of European civilization into a spiral. | |
| − | + | ===Lines 428-430, ''Purgatorio,'' "Pervigilium Veneris," "O Swallow, Swallow," "El Desdichado"=== | |
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| − | ===Lines 431-432=== | + | ''Poi s'ascose nel foco che gli affina'' |
| + | ''Quando fiam ceu chelidon - O swallow swallow'' | ||
| + | ''Le Prince d'Aquitaine a la tour abolie'' 430 | ||
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| + | '''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'' | ||
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| + | ::::"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. | ||
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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''=== | ||
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. | ||
| − | ===Lines 433-434=== | + | 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=== | ||
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." | ||
