The Waste Land

 Introduction :-

This task was given by Dilip barad sir about 'The Waste Land'. 'The Waste Land' was written by Thomas Stearns Eliot OM. T. S. Eliot's landmark modernist poem The Waste Land was published in 1922. It was divided into five sections. 

 About the Author :-

                       

Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888-1965) was born in St. Louis, Missouri, of an old New England family. He was educated at Harvard and did graduate work in philosophy at the Sorbonne, Harvard, and Merton College, Oxford.

About the Poem :- 

                    

The Waste Land can be viewed as a poem about brokenness and loss, and Eliot's numerous allusions to the First World War suggest that the war played a significant part in bringing about this social, psychological, and emotional collapse.

Central Theme of Poem :-

Here are several themes, which can be observed;

· Death

· Rebirth

· Love

· Lust

· Water

· Spiritual degradation

So now let’s discuss these themes in detail.

Death :-

Death is the significant subject of this lyric as two segments of this poem 'The Burial of the dead' and 'demise by water' alludes or shows to this topic. What entangles matters is that demise can mean life so as it were one jars say that by passing on, a being can make ready for the new lives. Thusly the death is the focal subject of this poem.

Spiritual degradation :-

T.S Eliot has communicated what he felt about his territory in The Waste Land and how individuals step by step lost confidence in God and otherworldly rot is the primary topic of the lyric as in view of it just his property is squander arrive. In present day society there is a rot and otherworldly decline at whatever point the sexual capacity is avoided. So Spiritual Degradation can be taken as the fundamental thought of this poem.

Rebirth :-

Here Rebirth can be a major theme which is found in this poem. The Christ images in the poem, along with many other religious metaphors, causes rebirth and resurrection as the central theme of this poem.

Love :-

Love is the main theme of this poem. Here in the poem many references can be noticed such as Tristan and Isodle in ‘Burial of the Dead’ and Cleopatra in a ‘Game of Chess’ and to the story of Tereus and Philomela suggests that love in the waste land is often destructive.

Lust:-

Here T.S Eliot has very well depicted the theme of lust through this poem. T.S Eliot depicts the sin as something a akin to rape this chance sexual encounter carries with it mythological beggage.The violated Philomela, the blind Tiresias who lived for a time as a woman. Sexuality runs through the waste land taking centre stage as a cause of calamity in the ‘The Fire Sermon’.

Water :-

                 

“The waste land” lacks water and water also promises rebirth at the same time however water can bring about Death. T.S Eliot sees the card of the drowned Phoenician sailor and later titles the fourth section of this poem ‘Death By water’ when the rain finally arrives at the close of the poem it does suggest the cleansing of sin, the washing away of misdeeds and the start of a new future, however with comes thunder and therefore perhaps lightening.

1) What are your views on the following image after reading 'The Waste Land'? Do you think that Eliot is regressive as compared to Nietzche's views? or Has Eliot achieved universality of thought by recalling mytho-historical answer to the contemporary malaise?

                   

Frederic Nietzsche was a German philosopher who gave the term ' Übermensch', which means superhuman, a human being with remarkable abilities. Say for example Mahavira swami who was born in royal family and then left his home in pursuit of knowledge. He lived in the 5th-century BC contemporaneously with the Buddha. Both were normal human being and both have practiced intense meditation. Though they were not gods but were having super human quality as compared to other humans. one become leader in Jainism and another become leader in Buddhism but with passing of time they were considered as god. Eliot is regressive as compared to Nietzsche, he have used many myth in his poem waste land, there is nothing wrong in being regressive because people learns from past. If people have done something wrong in past they can recover or learns not to repeat same thing in present. Eliot gave example of myth in the context of present.

2 ) Prior to the speech, Gustaf Hellström of the Swedish Academy made these remarks:

Frued and Nietzsche both are contemporaries but their background and field of working is different. Frued believed in individuality and talked about "primitive instinct" whereas Eliot believed in preservation of cultural traditions which means all together. 

Frued wrote that for progress any individual primitive instinct was needed but in order to preserve tradition Eliot says that there is need for them to grew together, for that example of Buddha was perhaps suitable.

There is an image or central theme of the poem : death in life is eastern philosophy in the westland, rebirth and the continuation of an endless cycle of suffering in a world, and many other references are there...

1.The Fire sermon 

The fire and sermon is name of sermon given by Buddha. Gayasisa is the place where buddha prech the fire sermon about achieving libration from suffering through detachment from the five senses and mind, by that Eliot also wants to convey a message tp stay detached from all body and sense's desire.

2.What the Thunder sermon

There is refrence pf Upanishad in this Prajapati 

Spoken in thunder 'aakashvani' to devotees are pointed out the way of salvation. Eliot shows the way of spiritual rebirth on the basis of wisdom of India. 

"Rock and no water and the sandy road

The road winding above among the mountains"

 Climbing a painful mountain pass through pain and agony and after that you reach your destination the feeling of Air is Shantih.

3.River Ganga and Himalaya 

Eliot refers to Wisdom of India for spiritual salvation of modern humanity. Holly river Ganga known for its purity and also for purification , and Himalaya is known for spirituality and peace.

"Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves

Waited for rain, while the black clouds

Gathered far distant, over Himavant".

4.Three Da

Datta.. Give

Dayadhvam... Sympathise

Damyata...control

Da..Da..Da.. As a reminder to practise self control, giving and compassion.

5.Shanti MantraMantra

Path of knowledge is always painful and peace comes after knowing something that is the real Shantih. Thus Eliot ends Wasteland with hope.