The Waste Land
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
| Revision as of 21:12, 18 August 2008 Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) ← Previous diff |
Current revision Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| + | {| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5" | ||
| + | | style="text-align: left;" | | ||
| + | "April is the [[cruel]]lest month"--''[[The Waste Land]]'' (1922) by T. S. Eliot | ||
| + | |} | ||
| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| - | '''''The Waste Land''''' ([[1922 in poetry|1922]]) is a highly influential 434-line [[modernism|modernist]] [[poem]] by [[T. S. Eliot]]. It is perhaps the most famous and most written-about long poem of the [[20th century]]. Despite the alleged obscurity of the poem – its shifts between [[satire]] and prophecy, its abrupt and unannounced changes of speaker, location and time, its [[elegiac]] but intimidating summoning up of a vast and dissonant range of cultures and literatures – the poem has nonetheless become a familiar touchstone of modern literature. Among its famous phrases are "April is the cruellest month" (its first line); "I will show you fear in a handful of dust"; and the [[Sanskrit]] "Shantih shantih shantih" (its last line). | + | '''''The Waste Land''''' (1922) is an [[English poem]] by [[T. S. Eliot]], one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of [[Modernist poetry in English|modernist poetry]]. Published in 1922, the 434-line poem first appeared in the United Kingdom in the October issue of Eliot's ''[[The Criterion]]'' and in the United States in the November issue of ''[[The Dial]]''. It was published in book form in December 1922. Among its famous phrases are "April is the cruellest month", "I will show you fear in a handful of dust", and the [[mantra]] in the [[Sanskrit]] language "[[Shanti Mantra|Shantih shantih shantih]]". |
| + | |||
| + | Eliot's poem combines the legend of the [[Holy Grail]] and the [[Fisher King]] with vignettes of contemporary British society. Eliot employs many literary and cultural allusions from the [[Western canon]] such as [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]]'s ''[[Divine Comedy]]'' and [[Shakespeare]], [[Buddhism]], and the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] [[Upanishads]]. The poem shifts between voices of [[satire]] and [[prophecy]] featuring abrupt and unannounced changes of [[Narrator|speaker]], [[Setting (narrative)|location, and time]] and conjuring a vast and dissonant range of cultures and literatures. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The poem is divided into five sections. The first, "The Burial of the Dead", introduces the diverse themes of disillusionment and despair. The second, "A Game of Chess", employs alternating narrations, in which vignettes of several characters address those themes experientially. "The Fire Sermon", the third section, offers a philosophical meditation in relation to the imagery of death and views of self-denial in juxtaposition influenced by [[Augustine of Hippo]] and [[Eastern religions]]. After a fourth section, "Death by Water", which includes a brief lyrical petition, the culminating fifth section, "What the Thunder Said", concludes with an image of judgement. | ||
| + | |||
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Current revision
|
"April is the cruellest month"--The Waste Land (1922) by T. S. Eliot |
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
The Waste Land (1922) is an English poem by T. S. Eliot, one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry. Published in 1922, the 434-line poem first appeared in the United Kingdom in the October issue of Eliot's The Criterion and in the United States in the November issue of The Dial. It was published in book form in December 1922. Among its famous phrases are "April is the cruellest month", "I will show you fear in a handful of dust", and the mantra in the Sanskrit language "Shantih shantih shantih".
Eliot's poem combines the legend of the Holy Grail and the Fisher King with vignettes of contemporary British society. Eliot employs many literary and cultural allusions from the Western canon such as Dante's Divine Comedy and Shakespeare, Buddhism, and the Hindu Upanishads. The poem shifts between voices of satire and prophecy featuring abrupt and unannounced changes of speaker, location, and time and conjuring a vast and dissonant range of cultures and literatures.
The poem is divided into five sections. The first, "The Burial of the Dead", introduces the diverse themes of disillusionment and despair. The second, "A Game of Chess", employs alternating narrations, in which vignettes of several characters address those themes experientially. "The Fire Sermon", the third section, offers a philosophical meditation in relation to the imagery of death and views of self-denial in juxtaposition influenced by Augustine of Hippo and Eastern religions. After a fourth section, "Death by Water", which includes a brief lyrical petition, the culminating fifth section, "What the Thunder Said", concludes with an image of judgement.
