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Sdk Posted 19 years ago

The Waste Land

1b00The Waste Land, i found a very difficult poem. Please help me in explaining and critically evaluating it.02b02br
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01b00May i ask whether this is a poem. If Yes why? If not why?02b02br
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00I. THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD02center
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00A00PRIL00 is the cruellest month, breeding02td
01a00 02a02td
00Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing02td01a00 02a02td
00Memory and desire, stirring02td01a00 02a02td
00Dull roots with spring rain.02td01a00 02a02td
00Winter kept us warm, covering02td01a01i00 502i02a02td
00Earth in forgetful snow, feeding02td01a00 02a02td
00A little life with dried tubers.02td01a00 02a02td
00Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee02td01a00 02a02td
00With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,02td01a00 02a02td
00And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,02td01a01i00 1002i02a02td
00And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.02td01a00 02a02td
00Bin gar keine Russin, stamm' aus Litauen, echt deutsch.02td01a00 02a02td
00And when we were children, staying at the archduke's,02td01a00 02a02td
00My cousin's, he took me out on a sled,02td01a00 02a02td
00And I was frightened. He said, Marie,02td01a01i00 1502i02a02td
00Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.02td01a00 02a02td
00In the mountains, there you feel free.02td01a00 02a02td
00I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow02td01a00 02a02td
00Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,02td01a01i00 2002i02a02td
00You cannot say, or guess, for you know only02td01a00 02a02td
00A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,02td01a00 02a02td
00And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,02td01a00 02a02td
00And the dry stone no sound of water. Only02td01a00 02a02td
00There is shadow under this red rock,02td01a01i00 2502i02a02td
00(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),02td01a00 02a02td
00And I will show you something different from either02td01a00 02a02td
00Your shadow at morning striding behind you02td01a00 02a02td
00Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;02td01a00 02a02td
00I will show you fear in a handful of dust.02td01a01i00 3002i02a02td
00 01i00Frisch weht der Wind02i02td01a00 02a02td
00 01i00Der Heimat zu.02i02td01a00 02a02td
00 01i00Mein Irisch Kind,02i02td01a00 02a02td
00 01i00Wo weilest du?02i02td01a00 02a02td
00'You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;02td01a01i00 3502i02a02td
00'They called me the hyacinth girl.'02td01a00 02a02td
00—Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden,02td01a00 02a02td
00Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not02td01a00 02a02td
00Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither02td01a00 02a02td
00Living nor dead, and I knew nothing,02td01a01i00 4002i02a02td
00Looking into the heart of light, the silence.02td01a00 02a02td
01i00Od' und leer das Meer.02i02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante,02td01a00 02a02td
00Had a bad cold, nevertheless02td01a00 02a02td
00Is known to be the wisest woman in Europe,02td01a01i00 4502i02a02td
00With a wicked pack of cards. Here, said she,02td01a00 02a02td
00Is your card, the drowned Phoenician Sailor,02td01a00 02a02td
00(Those are pearls that were his eyes. Look!)02td01a00 02a02td
00Here is Belladonna, the Lady of the Rocks,02td01a00 02a02td
00The lady of situations.02td01a01i00 5002i02a02td
00Here is the man with three staves, and here the Wheel,02td01a00 02a02td
00And here is the one-eyed merchant, and this card,02td01a00 02a02td
00Which is blank, is something he carries on his back,02td01a00 02a02td
00Which I am forbidden to see. I do not find02td01a00 02a02td
00The Hanged Man. Fear death by water.02td01a01i00 5502i02a02td
00I see crowds of people, walking round in a ring.02td01a00 02a02td
00Thank you. If you see dear Mrs. Equitone,02td01a00 02a02td
00Tell her I bring the horoscope myself:02td01a00 02a02td
00One must be so careful these days.02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00Unreal City,02td01a01i00 6002i02a02td
00Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,02td01a00 02a02td
00A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,02td01a00 02a02td
00I had not thought death had undone so many.02td01a00 02a02td
00Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,02td01a00 02a02td
00And each man fixed his eyes before his feet.02td01a01i00 6502i02a02td
00Flowed up the hill and down King William Street,02td01a00 02a02td
00To where Saint Mary Woolnoth kept the hours02td01a00 02a02td
00With a dead sound on the final stroke of nine.02td01a00 02a02td
00There I saw one I knew, and stopped him, crying 'Stetson!02td01a00 02a02td
00'You who were with me in the ships at Mylae!02td01a01i00 7002i02a02td
00'That corpse you planted last year in your garden,02td01a00 02a02td
00'Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year?02td01a00 02a02td
00'Or has the sudden frost disturbed its bed?02td01a00 02a02td
00'Oh keep the Dog far hence, that's friend to men,02td01a00 02a02td
00'Or with his nails he'll dig it up again!02td01a01i00 7502i02a02td
00'You! hypocrite lecteur!—mon semblable,—mon frère!'02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
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00II. A GAME OF CHESS02center
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00T00HE00 Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne,02td
01a00 02a02td
00Glowed on the marble, where the glass02td01a00 02a02td
00Held up by standards wrought with fruited vines02td01a00 02a02td
00From which a golden Cupidon peeped out02td01a01i00 8002i02a02td
00(Another hid his eyes behind his wing)02td01a00 02a02td
00Doubled the flames of sevenbranched candelabra02td01a00 02a02td
00Reflecting light upon the table as02td01a00 02a02td
00The glitter of her jewels rose to meet it,02td01a00 02a02td
00From satin cases poured in rich profusion;02td01a01i00 8502i02a02td
00In vials of ivory and coloured glass02td01a00 02a02td
00Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes,02td01a00 02a02td
00Unguent, powdered, or liquid—troubled, confused02td01a00 02a02td
00And drowned the sense in odours; stirred by the air02td01a00 02a02td
00That freshened from the window, these ascended02td01a01i00 9002i02a02td
00In fattening the prolonged candle-flames,02td01a00 02a02td
00Flung their smoke into the laquearia,02td01a00 02a02td
00Stirring the pattern on the coffered ceiling.02td01a00 02a02td
00Huge sea-wood fed with copper02td01a00 02a02td
00Burned green and orange, framed by the coloured stone,02td01a01i00 9502i02a02td
00In which sad light a carvèd dolphin swam.02td01a00 02a02td
00Above the antique mantel was displayed02td01a00 02a02td
00As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene02td01a00 02a02td
00The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king02td01a00 02a02td
00So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale02td01a01i00 10002i02a02td
00Filled all the desert with inviolable voice02td01a00 02a02td
00And still she cried, and still the world pursues,02td01a00 02a02td
00'Jug Jug' to dirty ears.02td01a00 02a02td
00And other withered stumps of time02td01a00 02a02td
00Were told upon the walls; staring forms02td01a01i00 10502i02a02td
00Leaned out, leaning, hushing the room enclosed.02td01a00 02a02td
00Footsteps shuffled on the stair.02td01a00 02a02td
00Under the firelight, under the brush, her hair02td01a00 02a02td
00Spread out in fiery points02td01a00 02a02td
00Glowed into words, then would be savagely still.02td01a01i00 11002i02a02td
00 02td
00'My nerves are bad to-night. Yes, bad. Stay with me.02td01a00 02a02td
00'Speak to me. Why do you never speak? Speak.02td01a00 02a02td
00'What are you thinking of? What thinking? What?02td01a00 02a02td
00'I never know what you are thinking. Think.'02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00I think we are in rats' alley02td01a01i00 11502i02a02td
00Where the dead men lost their bones.02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00'What is that noise?'02td01a00 02a02td
00 The wind under the door.02td01a00 02a02td
00'What is that noise now? What is the wind doing?'02td01a00 02a02td
00 Nothing again nothing.02td01a01i00 12002i02a02td
00 'Do02td01a00 02a02td
00'You know nothing? Do you see nothing? Do you remember02td01a00 02a02td
00'Nothing?'02td01a00 02a02td
00 I remember02td01a00 02a02td
00Those are pearls that were his eyes.02td01a01i00 12502i02a02td
00'Are you alive, or not? Is there nothing in your head?'02td01a00 02a02td
00 But02td01a00 02a02td
00O O O O that Shakespeherian Rag—02td01a00 02a02td
00It's so elegant02td01a00 02a02td
00So intelligent02td01a01i00 13002i02a02td
00'What shall I do now? What shall I do?'02td01a00 02a02td
00'I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street02td01a00 02a02td
00'With my hair down, so. What shall we do to-morrow?02td01a00 02a02td
00'What shall we ever do?'02td01a00 02a02td
00 The hot water at ten.02td01a01i00 13502i02a02td
00And if it rains, a closed car at four.02td01a00 02a02td
00And we shall play a game of chess,02td01a00 02a02td
00Pressing lidless eyes and waiting for a knock upon the door.02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00When Lil's husband got demobbed, I said—02td01a00 02a02td
00I didn't mince my words, I said to her myself,02td01a01i00 14002i02a02td
00H00URRY UP PLEASE IT'S TIME02td01a00 02a02td
00Now Albert's coming back, make yourself a bit smart.02td01a00 02a02td
00He'll want to know what you done with that money he gave you02td01a00 02a02td
00To get yourself some teeth. He did, I was there.02td01a00 02a02td
00You have them all out, Lil, and get a nice set,02td01a01i00 14502i02a02td
00He said, I swear, I can't bear to look at you.02td01a00 02a02td
00And no more can't I, I said, and think of poor Albert,02td01a00 02a02td
00He's been in the army four years, he wants a good time,02td01a00 02a02td
00And if you don't give it him, there's others will, I said.02td01a00 02a02td
00Oh is there, she said. Something o' that, I said.02td01a01i00 15002i02a02td
00Then I'll know who to thank, she said, and give me a straight look.02td01a00 02a02td
00H00URRY UP PLEASE IT'S TIME02td01a00 02a02td
00If you don't like it you can get on with it, I said.02td01a00 02a02td
00Others can pick and choose if you can't.02td01a00 02a02td
00But if Albert makes off, it won't be for lack of telling.02td01a01i00 15502i02a02td
00You ought to be ashamed, I said, to look so antique.02td01a00 02a02td
00(And her only thirty-one.)02td01a00 02a02td
00I can't help it, she said, pulling a long face,02td01a00 02a02td
00It's them pills I took, to bring it off, she said.02td01a00 02a02td
00(She's had five already, and nearly died of young George.)02td01a01i00 16002i02a02td
00The chemist said it would be alright, but I've never been the same.02td01a00 02a02td
00You 01i00are02i00 a proper fool, I said.02td01a00 02a02td
00Well, if Albert won't leave you alone, there it is, I said,02td01a00 02a02td
00What you get married for if you don't want children?02td01a00 02a02td
00H00URRY UP PLEASE IT'S TIME02td01a01i00 16502i02a02td
00Well, that Sunday Albert was home, they had a hot gammon,02td01a00 02a02td
00And they asked me in to dinner, to get the beauty of it hot—02td01a00 02a02td
00H00URRY UP PLEASE IT'S TIME02td01a00 02a02td
00H00URRY UP PLEASE IT'S TIME02td01a00 02a02td
00Goonight Bill. Goonight Lou. Goonight May. Goonight.02td01a01i00 17002i02a02td
00Ta ta. Goonight. Goonight.02td01a00 02a02td
00Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night.02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
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00III. THE FIRE SERMON02center
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00T00HE00 river's tent is broken: the last fingers of leaf02td
01a00 02a02td
00Clutch and sink into the wet bank. The wind02td01a00 02a02td
00Crosses the brown land, unheard. The nymphs are departed.02td01a01i00 17502i02a02td
00Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.02td01a00 02a02td
00The river bears no empty bottles, sandwich papers,02td01a00 02a02td
00Silk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes, cigarette ends02td01a00 02a02td
00Or other testimony of summer nights. The nymphs are departed.02td01a00 02a02td
00And their friends, the loitering heirs of city directors;02td01a01i00 18002i02a02td
00Departed, have left no addresses.02td01a00 02a02td
00By the waters of Leman I sat down and wept...02td01a00 02a02td
00Sweet Thames, run softly till I end my song,02td01a00 02a02td
00Sweet Thames, run softly, for I speak not loud or long.02td01a00 02a02td
00But at my back in a cold blast I hear02td01a01i00 18502i02a02td
00The rattle of the bones, and chuckle spread from ear to ear.02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00A rat crept softly through the vegetation02td01a00 02a02td
00Dragging its slimy belly on the bank02td01a00 02a02td
00While I was fishing in the dull canal02td01a00 02a02td
00On a winter evening round behind the gashouse02td01a01i00 19002i02a02td
00Musing upon the king my brother's wreck02td01a00 02a02td
00And on the king my father's death before him.02td01a00 02a02td
00White bodies naked on the low damp ground02td01a00 02a02td
00And bones cast in a little low dry garret,02td01a00 02a02td
00Rattled by the rat's foot only, year to year.02td01a01i00 19502i02a02td
00But at my back from time to time I hear02td01a00 02a02td
00The sound of horns and motors, which shall bring02td01a00 02a02td
00Sweeney to Mrs. Porter in the spring.02td01a00 02a02td
00O the moon shone bright on Mrs. Porter02td01a00 02a02td
00And on her daughter02td01a01i00 20002i02a02td
00They wash their feet in soda water02td01a00 02a02td
01i00Et, O ces voix d'enfants, chantant dans la coupole!02i02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00Twit twit twit02td01a00 02a02td
00Jug jug jug jug jug jug02td01a00 02a02td
00So rudely forc'd.02td01a01i00 20502i02a02td
00Tereu02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00Unreal City02td01a00 02a02td
00Under the brown fog of a winter noon02td01a00 02a02td
00Mr. Eugenides, the Smyrna merchant02td01a00 02a02td
00Unshaven, with a pocket full of currants02td01a01i00 21002i02a02td
00C.i.f. London: documents at sight,02td01a00 02a02td
00Asked me in demotic French02td01a00 02a02td
00To luncheon at the Cannon Street Hotel02td01a00 02a02td
00Followed by a weekend at the Metropole.02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00At the violet hour, when the eyes and back02td01a01i00 21502i02a02td
00Turn upward from the desk, when the human engine waits02td01a00 02a02td
00Like a taxi throbbing waiting,02td01a00 02a02td
00I Tiresias, though blind, throbbing between two lives,02td01a00 02a02td
00Old man with wrinkled female breasts, can see02td01a00 02a02td
00At the violet hour, the evening hour that strives02td01a01i00 22002i02a02td
00Homeward, and brings the sailor home from sea,02td01a00 02a02td
00The typist home at teatime, clears her breakfast, lights02td01a00 02a02td
00Her stove, and lays out food in tins.02td01a00 02a02td
00Out of the window perilously spread02td01a00 02a02td
00Her drying combinations touched by the sun's last rays,02td01a01i00 22502i02a02td
00On the divan are piled (at night her bed)02td01a00 02a02td
00Stockings, slippers, camisoles, and stays.02td01a00 02a02td
00I Tiresias, old man with wrinkled dugs02td01a00 02a02td
00Perceived the scene, and foretold the rest—02td01a00 02a02td
00I too awaited the expected guest.02td01a01i00 23002i02a02td
00He, the young man carbuncular, arrives,02td01a00 02a02td
00A small house agent's clerk, with one bold stare,02td01a00 02a02td
00One of the low on whom assurance sits02td01a00 02a02td
00As a silk hat on a Bradford millionaire.02td01a00 02a02td
00The time is now propitious, as he guesses,02td01a01i00 23502i02a02td
00The meal is ended, she is bored and tired,02td01a00 02a02td
00Endeavours to engage her in caresses02td01a00 02a02td
00Which still are unreproved, if undesired.02td01a00 02a02td
00Flushed and decided, he assaults at once;02td01a00 02a02td
00Exploring hands encounter no defence;02td01a01i00 24002i02a02td
00His vanity requires no response,02td01a00 02a02td
00And makes a welcome of indifference.02td01a00 02a02td
00(And I Tiresias have foresuffered all02td01a00 02a02td
00Enacted on this same divan or bed;02td01a00 02a02td
00I who have sat by Thebes below the wall02td01a01i00 24502i02a02td
00And walked among the lowest of the dead.)02td01a00 02a02td
00Bestows on final patronising kiss,02td01a00 02a02td
00And gropes his way, finding the stairs unlit...02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00She turns and looks a moment in the glass,02td01a00 02a02td
00Hardly aware of her departed lover;02td01a01i00 25002i02a02td
00Her brain allows one half-formed thought to pass:02td01a00 02a02td
00'Well now that's done: and I'm glad it's over.'02td01a00 02a02td
00When lovely woman stoops to folly and02td01a00 02a02td
00Paces about her room again, alone,02td01a00 02a02td
00She smoothes her hair with automatic hand,02td01a01i00 25502i02a02td
00And puts a record on the gramophone.02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00'This music crept by me upon the waters'02td01a00 02a02td
00And along the Strand, up Queen Victoria Street.02td01a00 02a02td
00O City city, I can sometimes hear02td01a00 02a02td
00Beside a public bar in Lower Thames Street,02td01a01i00 26002i02a02td
00The pleasant whining of a mandoline02td01a00 02a02td
00And a clatter and a chatter from within02td01a00 02a02td
00Where fishmen lounge at noon: where the walls02td01a00 02a02td
00Of Magnus Martyr hold02td01a00 02a02td
00Inexplicable splendour of Ionian white and gold.02td01a01i00 26502i02a02td
00 02td
00 The river sweats02td01a00 02a02td
00 Oil and tar02td01a00 02a02td
00 The barges drift02td01a00 02a02td
00 With the turning tide02td01a00 02a02td
00 Red sails02td01a01i00 27002i02a02td
00 Wide02td01a00 02a02td
00 To leeward, swing on the heavy spar.02td01a00 02a02td
00 The barges wash02td01a00 02a02td
00 Drifting logs02td01a00 02a02td
00 Down Greenwich reach02td01a01i00 27502i02a02td
00 Past the Isle of Dogs.02td01a00 02a02td
00 Weialala leia02td01a00 02a02td
00 Wallala leialala02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00 Elizabeth and Leicester02td01a00 02a02td
00 Beating oars02td01a01i00 28002i02a02td
00 The stern was formed02td01a00 02a02td
00 A gilded shell02td01a00 02a02td
00 Red and gold02td01a00 02a02td
00 The brisk swell02td01a00 02a02td
00 Rippled both shores02td01a01i00 28502i02a02td
00 Southwest wind02td01a00 02a02td
00 Carried down stream02td01a00 02a02td
00 The peal of bells02td01a00 02a02td
00 White towers02td01a00 02a02td
00 Weialala leia02td01a01i00 29002i02a02td
00 Wallala leialala02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00'Trams and dusty trees.02td01a00 02a02td
00Highbury bore me. Richmond and Kew02td01a00 02a02td
00Undid me. By Richmond I raised my knees02td01a00 02a02td
00Supine on the floor of a narrow canoe.'02td01a01i00 29502i02a02td
00'My feet are at Moorgate, and my heart02td01a00 02a02td
00Under my feet. After the event02td01a00 02a02td
00He wept. He promised "a new start".02td01a00 02a02td
00I made no comment. What should I resent?'02td01a00 02a02td
00'On Margate Sands.02td01a01i00 30002i02a02td
00I can connect02td01a00 02a02td
00Nothing with nothing.02td01a00 02a02td
00The broken fingernails of dirty hands.02td01a00 02a02td
00My people humble people who expect02td01a00 02a02td
00Nothing.'02td01a01i00 30502i02a02td
00 la la02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00To Carthage then I came02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00Burning burning burning burning02td01a00 02a02td
00O Lord Thou pluckest me out02td01a00 02a02td
00O Lord Thou pluckest02td01a01i00 31002i02a02td
00 02td
00burning02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
02br
01center
00IV. DEATH BY WATER02center
02br
02br
00P00HLEBAS00 the Phoenician, a fortnight dead,02td
01a00 02a02td
00Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep seas swell02td01a00 02a02td
00And the profit and loss.02td01a00 02a02td
00 A current under sea02td01a01i00 31502i02a02td
00Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell02td01a00 02a02td
00He passed the stages of his age and youth02td01a00 02a02td
00Entering the whirlpool.02td01a00 02a02td
00 Gentile or Jew02td01a00 02a02td
00O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,02td01a01i00 32002i02a02td
00Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
02br
01center
00V. WHAT THE THUNDER SAID02center
02br
02br
00A00FTER00 the torchlight red on sweaty faces02td
01a00 02a02td
00After the frosty silence in the gardens02td01a00 02a02td
00After the agony in stony places02td01a00 02a02td
00The shouting and the crying02td01a01i00 32502i02a02td
00Prison and place and reverberation02td01a00 02a02td
00Of thunder of spring over distant mountains02td01a00 02a02td
00He who was living is now dead02td01a00 02a02td
00We who were living are now dying02td01a00 02a02td
00With a little patience02td01a01i00 33002i02a02td
00 02td
00Here is no water but only rock02td01a00 02a02td
00Rock and no water and the sandy road02td01a00 02a02td
00The road winding above among the mountains02td01a00 02a02td
00Which are mountains of rock without water02td01a00 02a02td
00If there were water we should stop and drink02td01a01i00 33502i02a02td
00Amongst the rock one cannot stop or think02td01a00 02a02td
00Sweat is dry and feet are in the sand02td01a00 02a02td
00If there were only water amongst the rock02td01a00 02a02td
00Dead mountain mouth of carious teeth that cannot spit02td01a00 02a02td
00Here one can neither stand nor lie nor sit02td01a01i00 34002i02a02td
00There is not even silence in the mountains02td01a00 02a02td
00But dry sterile thunder without rain02td01a00 02a02td
00There is not even solitude in the mountains02td01a00 02a02td
00But red sullen faces sneer and snarl02td01a00 02a02td
00From doors of mudcracked houses02br
00 If there were water02td
01a01i00 34502i02a02td
00 And no rock02td01a00 02a02td
00 If there were rock02td01a00 02a02td
00 And also water02td01a00 02a02td
00 And water02td01a00 02a02td
00 A spring02td01a01i00 35002i02a02td
00 A pool among the rock02td01a00 02a02td
00 If there were the sound of water only02td01a00 02a02td
00 Not the cicada02td01a00 02a02td
00 And dry grass singing02td01a00 02a02td
00 But sound of water over a rock02td01a01i00 35502i02a02td
00 Where the hermit-thrush sings in the pine trees02td01a00 02a02td
00 Drip drop drip drop drop drop drop02td01a00 02a02td
00 But there is no water02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00Who is the third who walks always beside you?02td01a00 02a02td
00When I count, there are only you and I together02td01a01i00 36002i02a02td
00But when I look ahead up the white road02td01a00 02a02td
00There is always another one walking beside you02td01a00 02a02td
00Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded02td01a00 02a02td
00I do not know whether a man or a woman02td01a00 02a02td
00—But who is that on the other side of you?02td01a01i00 36502i02a02td
00 02td
00What is that sound high in the air02td01a00 02a02td
00Murmur of maternal lamentation02td01a00 02a02td
00Who are those hooded hordes swarming02td01a00 02a02td
00Over endless plains, stumbling in cracked earth02td01a00 02a02td
00Ringed by the flat horizon only02td01a01i00 37002i02a02td
00What is the city over the mountains02td01a00 02a02td
00Cracks and reforms and bursts in the violet air02td01a00 02a02td
00Falling towers02td01a00 02a02td
00Jerusalem Athens Alexandria02td01a00 02a02td
00Vienna London02td01a01i00 37502i02a02td
00Unreal02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00A woman drew her long black hair out tight02td01a00 02a02td
00And fiddled whisper music on those strings02td01a00 02a02td
00And bats with baby faces in the violet light02td01a00 02a02td
00Whistled, and beat their wings02td01a01i00 38002i02a02td
00And crawled head downward down a blackened wall02td01a00 02a02td
00And upside down in air were towers02td01a00 02a02td
00Tolling reminiscent bells, that kept the hours02td01a00 02a02td
00And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells.02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00In this decayed hole among the mountains02td01a01i00 38502i02a02td
00In the faint moonlight, the grass is singing02td01a00 02a02td
00Over the tumbled graves, about the chapel02td01a00 02a02td
00There is the empty chapel, only the wind's home.02td01a00 02a02td
00It has no windows, and the door swings,02td01a00 02a02td
00Dry bones can harm no one.02td01a01i00 39002i02a02td
00Only a cock stood on the rooftree02td01a00 02a02td
00Co co rico co co rico02td01a00 02a02td
00In a flash of lightning. Then a damp gust02td01a00 02a02td
00Bringing rain02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves02td01a01i00 39502i02a02td
00Waited for rain, while the black clouds02td01a00 02a02td
00Gathered far distant, over Himavant.02td01a00 02a02td
00The jungle crouched, humped in silence.02td01a00 02a02td
00Then spoke the thunder02td01a00 02a02td
00D 00A02td01a01i00 40002i02a02td
01i00Datta:02i00 what have we given?02td01a00 02a02td
00My friend, blood shaking my heart02td01a00 02a02td
00The awful daring of a moment's surrender02td01a00 02a02td
00Which an age of prudence can never retract02td01a00 02a02td
00By this, and this only, we have existed02td01a01i00 40502i02a02td
00Which is not to be found in our obituaries02td01a00 02a02td
00Or in memories draped by the beneficent spider02td01a00 02a02td
00Or under seals broken by the lean solicitor02td01a00 02a02td
00In our empty rooms02td01a00 02a02td
00D 00A02td01a01i00 41002i02a02td
01i00Dayadhvam:02i00 I have heard the key02td01a00 02a02td
00Turn in the door once and turn once only02td01a00 02a02td
00We think of the key, each in his prison02td01a00 02a02td
00Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison02td01a00 02a02td
00Only at nightfall, aetherial rumours02td01a01i00 41502i02a02td
00Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus02td01a00 02a02td
00D 00A02td01a00 02a02td
01i00Damyata:02i00 The boat responded02td01a00 02a02td
00Gaily, to the hand expert with sail and oar02td01a00 02a02td
00The sea was calm, your heart would have responded02td01a01i00 42002i02a02td
00Gaily, when invited, beating obedient02td01a00 02a02td
00To controlling hands02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00 I sat upon the shore02td01a00 02a02td
00Fishing, with the arid plain behind me02td01a00 02a02td
00Shall I at least set my lands in order?02td01a01i00 42502i02a02td
00 02td
00London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
01i00Poi s'ascose nel foco che gli affina02i02td01a00 02a02td
01i00Quando fiam ceu chelidon02i00—O swallow swallow02td01a00 02a02td
01i00Le Prince d'Aquitaine à la tour abolie02i02td01a00 02a02td
00These fragments I have shored against my ruins02td01a01i00 43002i02a02td
00Why then Ile fit you. Hieronymo's mad againe.02td01a00 02a02td
00Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata.02td01a00 02a02td
00 02td
00 Shantih shantih shantih02td
00 0-
  

Top answer

0Hi, 02br 02br 00This is one of the most sophsticated English modern poem by T. S Eliot. I had spent a whole semester studying it.

  • 0Hi, 02br 02br 00This is one of the most sophsticated English modern poem by T.
  • S Eliot.
  • I had spent a whole semester studying it.
  • And if you ask me what is about, I can merely say it's a fragmentary poem gathering many references, characters, thoughts, beliefs that the study of the poem should be accompanied with the study of its original references or else it'd be difficult for you to understand it.
  • e spiritual death in this materialistic life.
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2 Answers
0
0Hi, 02br
02br
00This is one of the most sophsticated English modern poem by T. S Eliot. I had spent a whole semester studying it. And if you ask me what is about, I can merely say it's a fragmentary poem gathering many references, characters, thoughts, beliefs that the study of the poem should be accompanied with the study of its original references or else it'd be difficult
0
0I am very thankful to you for your comments, but there may be someone who may solve the dillema0-

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