"What the Thunder Said" Annotations
From The Waste Land Wiki
(→Lines 424-426) |
(→Lines 322-330, Biblical Imagery) |
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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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==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? | ||
| − | [[''From Ritual to Romance'']] | + | 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. |
| − | ===Line 427=== | + | ===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." | ||
