Eliot's Notes
From The Waste Land Wiki
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| − | + | ==Dedication, Title, and Overall Work== | |
| − | + | The better craftsman. | |
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(Purgatorio xxvi, 117) | (Purgatorio xxvi, 117) | ||
Not only the title, but the plan and a good deal of the incidental symbolism of the poem were suggested by Miss Jessie L. Weston's book on the Grail legend: From Ritual to Romance (Macmillan). Indeed, so deeply am I indebted, Miss Weston's book will elucidate the difficulties of the poem much better than my notes can do; and I recommend it (apart from the great interest of the book itself) to any who think such elucidation of the poem worth the trouble. To another work of anthropology I am indebted in general, one which has influenced our generation profoundly; I mean The Golden Bough; I have used especially the two volumes Adonis, Attis, Osiris. Anyone who is acquainted with these works will immediately recognize in the poem certain references to vegetation ceremonies. | Not only the title, but the plan and a good deal of the incidental symbolism of the poem were suggested by Miss Jessie L. Weston's book on the Grail legend: From Ritual to Romance (Macmillan). Indeed, so deeply am I indebted, Miss Weston's book will elucidate the difficulties of the poem much better than my notes can do; and I recommend it (apart from the great interest of the book itself) to any who think such elucidation of the poem worth the trouble. To another work of anthropology I am indebted in general, one which has influenced our generation profoundly; I mean The Golden Bough; I have used especially the two volumes Adonis, Attis, Osiris. Anyone who is acquainted with these works will immediately recognize in the poem certain references to vegetation ceremonies. | ||
| − | I. THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD | + | ==I. THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD== |
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12.I am not Russian at all; I come from Lithuania, I am a real German | 12.I am not Russian at all; I come from Lithuania, I am a real German | ||
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V. Baudelaire, Preface to Fleurs du Mal. | V. Baudelaire, Preface to Fleurs du Mal. | ||
| − | II. A GAME OF CHESS | + | ==II. A GAME OF CHESS== |
77. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, II. ii. 190. | 77. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, II. ii. 190. | ||
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309. From St. Augustine's Confessions again. The collocation of these two representatives of eastern and western asceticism, as the culmination of this part of the poem, is not an accident. | 309. From St. Augustine's Confessions again. The collocation of these two representatives of eastern and western asceticism, as the culmination of this part of the poem, is not an accident. | ||
| − | IV. DEATH BY WATER | + | ==IV. DEATH BY WATER== |
This section is a version of the last seven lines of Eliot's earlier poem, Dans le Restaurant. | This section is a version of the last seven lines of Eliot's earlier poem, Dans le Restaurant. | ||
| − | V. WHAT THE THUNDER SAID | + | ==V. WHAT THE THUNDER SAID== |
In the first part of Part V three themes are employed: the journey to Emmaus, the approach to the Chapel Perilous (see Miss Weston's book), and the present decay of eastern Europe. | In the first part of Part V three themes are employed: the journey to Emmaus, the approach to the Chapel Perilous (see Miss Weston's book), and the present decay of eastern Europe. | ||
