"The Fire Sermon" Annotations

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 Directly after the quotation, ''The Waste Land'' proceeds to portray a contrasting image of modern London.  Abandoned and left in ruins, London is far from picturesque.  The reference to nymphs ties back this modern version of London to the 1596 poem, identifying the maidens in "Prothalamion" to nymphs, and the mention of hankerchiefs, cigarettes, and night suggest sexual indulgence.
-===Andrew Marvell===
- But at my back in a cold blast I hear
- The rattle of the bones, and chuckle spread from ear to ear.
-This excerpt alludes to Marvell's [["To His Coy Mistress"]], in which the narrator attempts to persuade a woman to engage in sexual intercourse with him.  A direct quote from that passage reads:  "But at my back I always hear / Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near."
-Eliot's work, however, relates this poem to death and war battle.  The chuckle concluding the excerpt creates an eerie adaptation of the poem.
 ==Stanza 2==

Revision as of 15:38, 15 September 2012