T.S Eliot opens The Waste Land, his novel about T.S Eliot. The epigraph is a latin phrase that tells the story of Sibyl Cumae, the prophetess who was Apollo’s lover. Apollo offered to be the prophetess’ lover in exchange for anything she desired. Sibyl had asked Apollo to grant her wish that she live as long a grain of dust is in a handful, but refused. She soon realized that the eternal youth she had received was not true and she began to age as her world remained young. The western tradition that defines oneself through their earthly legacy is represented by the prophetess’s choice of eternal life. Eliot describes the western culture as a barren wasteland after the first world conflict destroys it. The Latin epigraph represents the deterioration in western culture as a result of its dead traditions. The poem shifts from a western tradition to an oriental one because it believes that truth, compassion and ethical practice are the best solutions to heal western culture.
The Wasteland opens with The Burial Of The Dead. This represents the death of western tradition by showing knowledge in the absence of gods and a small amount of dust. The first 19 line tells the story of an aristocratic woman from Germany who is nostalgic for her childhood. She contrasts this with “Dull Roots with Spring Rain”(4), which represents the fruitlessness of her present life despite spring’s regenerative rain. April is the cruelest of all months to her. A time that used to be a symbol for the salvation of humanity and Jesus’ resurrection, it now represents death. “What roots are there that grasp, what branches will grow/ From this stony waste? Son of Man/ You cannot guess or say anything, because all you know is/ A heaping of broken pictures …”(20-22. This speaker has now questioned the very foundations of western religion. He also questions whether we should believe in a God that we’ve never seen. The speaker questions what we can gain by following a god that we don’t know. They are comparing western religions to’stony garbage’, because they offer the same false sense of solidity as a stone, but nothing more. Then they say “I’ll show you fear with a handful dust.” (30) This is directly related to the epigraph in Latin of Sibyl, and her meaningless life. Western tradition, despite all that you have achieved, ends with a sense of void because it believes in meaninglessness.
Eliot offers a solution to this hopeless Western epic through a new understanding of values. This solution is “…a bolt of lightning. Then a moist gust/ Bringing rainfall.”(394-5). It is this rain that brings relief to barren wastelands. And in the next line, we find ourselves on the shores improvised Ganga’s limp leaves. The speaker explains three of the values and duties that are part of Eastern Hindu traditions: Datta Dayadhyam Damyata. Datta is the Hindu word for “give”, the speaker asks if we are giving back what we have received. We realize, after reading the poem that the only thing we have returned to this dead culture is destruction. This was perfectly illustrated in the first section, “That Corpse you Planted Last Year in Your Garden/ Has It Began to sprout ?…? Or Has the Sudden Frost Disturbed its Bed?”(70-72)I thought this symbolised the unnecessary deaths caused by the war. Victory, a sense of accomplishment, warmth and comfort was replaced with cold feelings of death and loss. Dayadhyam is the second of Hinduism’s duties. It means “compassion” and “self-control”. The poem concludes with the peace that is beyond understanding, or Shantih. The western tradition has no compassion or self control values. Instead, it promotes a faith based on the “key of salvation”.
Eastern tradition is based on the belief that we are all one and as such, we should support and share each others’ struggles. Western tradition values destruction and even utilitarianism. This concept is alien. Eliot was trying to convey this same idea through the introduction Hindu verses towards the conclusion of a hopeless poetry. A Fire Sermon includes chants that are both in the eastern and western traditions. Western tradition is dependent on god to save them, as shown in “O Lord Thou pluckedest me out/O Lord Thou pluckedest”(309-10), but receives no response. Eastern tradition basks under the purifying flames of a Buddha sermon about nirvana. Eliot doesn’t want readers to convert overnight to eastern traditions, but he does want them to add these concepts to their broken images in the hope that they will gain understanding and achieve “Shantih”. The poem closes with an image depicting the Fisher King enjoying peace after completing the three Hinduism duties. There is no definitive answer. However, the reader learns that the character is putting the order in his lands which is a good metaphor for his own life. The author tells us, “These pieces I have sanded against my ruin/ Why they [might]Ile be suitable for you.” (431-42). Does this mean that the author has valued the duties? The quick reference to Hieronymo casts doubt on the solution. Its story represents that western society will reject the truth because they do not accept it. Hieronymo continued to fight for his tradition despite world’s views, because he believed it to be true. The four first sections of the poem represent the death of western tradition through a foundation of empty faith. The reader’s attention is drawn to the fact that wars motivated by selfish motives have destroyed our god.
Eliot argues that western values of self-salvation are the ones responsible for its demise. Both Eastern religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, stress the importance of giving back to others, compassion and self-control. The bottom line of salvation is to be self-saved, but the way you get there is by actively contributing.
Works Cited
Eliot T. S. The Waste Land. Dover Publications. 1998. Pg 31-42
