The Burial of the Dead

Allusions in this section: what do you remember about:  The Fisher King;  Tiresias? Why are these two characters/stories important in depicting London post ww1?

Listen to the section… 

Eliot’s original title for the poem was ‘He do the Police in Different Voices’, from Dickens’ ‘Our Mutual Friend ’ Betty Higden remarks upon the orphaned Sloppy’s surprising reading ability: Sloppy is a beautiful reader of the newspaper. He do the police in different voices.’ What does this original title suggest about Eliot’s intentions for the poem? Why do you think he uses a range of ‘different voices’ to depict Europe/London post ww1? Eliot’s use of multiple voices

1. What is the effect of these competing, often un-identified, often disembodied, voices on the reader? And on the poem itself? The Dramatic Monologue To an extent, The Waste Land takes the form of a dramatic monologue. However, rather than one unifying voice, many compete for the reader’s attention. It is not simply that Eliot uses a range of personae, he also uses a range of languages – German, Greek, Sanskrit. The majority of readers will not – and cannot be expected to – understand these immediately. 2. What do you think Eliot may be trying to suggest about modern 20 th century life? 3. And the ability for human’s to communicate in post-war society?

1.What do you think of the title ‘The Burial of the Dead’? 2.What do you make of the setting? 3.What is alluded to in the first line? Why do you think this is? 4.What do you make of the references to Germany and the use of German? 5.How many different voices can you find in the section? Make notes on each of them. 6.What sort of tone is created throughout and how? 7.What do you make of the section about Madame Sosostris? 8.How is London portrayed in the stanza that begins ‘unreal city’? 9.How are women portrayed in ‘The Burial of the Dead?’ 10.How do you think montage is used in this section? What effect does it have on the reader? Feedback from Homework:

The Burial of the Dead From the Anglican Burial Service – why do you think Eliot alludes to this? Who are ‘the dead’? (Does it reference more than one group?)

1.Why do you think the poem alludes to Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales’? Does this remind you of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ at all? 2.What are the connotations of April? How does Eliot use/ subvert these? 3.Do you think that Eliot’s use of iambic pentameter creates a sense of stability in the poem? Why? 4.Why do you think ‘winter kept us warm […] in forgetful snow’? Who do you think ‘we’ is? 5.What is the tone in the opening of the poem? How is this created? Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; The Opening of Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales The Opening of ‘The Wasteland’ April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers. Lines 1-7

1.At what point in the poem does the assumed speaker change? Is this ambiguous? Why? 2.The source for Marie is Countess Marie von Wallersee- Larisch. Why is this information not given to us in the poem? 3.What can you tell about Marie? 4.Why do you Marie is keen not to be considered ‘Russian’? 5. What does the lack of identification add to the character of Marie? Lines 8-18 Starnbergersee-- German for "The Starnberger Sea." It refers to a lake in Munich, Germany, a city in which Eliot visited in August 1911 (Southam 73). Hofgarten-- a park also located in Munich, Germany. Bin gar keine Russin, stamm' aus Litauen, echt deutsch.-- "I'm not Russian at all, I come from Lithuania, pure German."

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man, You cannot say, or guess, for you know only A heap of broken images, where the sun beats, And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief, And the dry stone no sound of water. Only There is shadow under this red rock, (Come in under the shadow of this red rock), And I will show you something different from either Your shadow at morning striding behind you Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you; I will show you fear in a handful of dust. Lines How is a ‘wasteland’ presented through the description of the setting here? 2.Could we see the ‘branch[s that] grow/ Out of this stony rubbish’ to be symbolic? Consider Eliot’s own beliefs and the zeitgeist of post ww1 Europe. 3.Do you notice any religious images/ideas? What effect do you think these have? 4.How does the legend of the Fisher King become relevant here? Consider the images of water/dryness. 5.There is an invitation to ‘come in under the shadow of this red rock […] and I will show you fear in a handful of dust.’ What do you make of this?

Homework ts-eliot-waste-land-stetson-anagram-riddle Read and make notes on this recent article about Eliot’s character ‘Stetson’ who is going to appear later in ‘The Burial of the Dead.’ For Friday

Frisch weht der Wind Der Heimat zu Mein Irisch Kind, Wo weilest du? “You gave me hyacinths first a year ago; “They called me the hyacinth girl.” —Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden, Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither Living nor dead, and I knew nothing, Looking into the heart of light, the silence. Oed’ und leer das Meer. "Fresh blows the Wind/ to the homeland./ My Irish child,/ where are you dwelling?" Taken from Richard Wagner's Tristan and Isolde. An allusion to Hyacinthus, a lover of Apollo who was tragically killed. "Desolate and empty is the sea." Also from Tristan and Isolde. Lines How can you tell that the voice/ speaker has changed again? What sort of voice is now apparent? 2.What do you make of the references to Tristan and Isolde? Why do you think Eliot alludes to the opera? 3.What do you make of the allusion to Hyainthus? 4.Do you think that there is additional symbolism in the references to ‘hyacinths’? 5.How is the character of Tiresias and the theme of prophesy used here?

Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante, Had a bad cold, nevertheless Is known to be the wisest woman in Europe, With a wicked pack of cards. Here, said she, Is your card, the drowned Phoenician Sailor, (Those are pearls that were his eyes. Look!) Here is Belladonna, the Lady of the Rocks, The lady of situations. Here is the man with three staves, and here the Wheel, And here is the one-eyed merchant, and this card, Which is blank, is something he carries on his back, Which I am forbidden to see. I do not find The Hanged Man. Fear death by water. I see crowds of people, walking round in a ring. Thank you. If you see dear Mrs. Equitone, Tell her I bring the horoscope myself: One must be so careful these days. Lines Madame S is referred to in Aldous Huxley's novel Crome Yellow. 1.How is this allusion different to the other allusions we have seen so far? Why might Eliot be alluding to a tarot reader? Look at line 59 – what do you think ‘thank you’ alludes to? 2.Choose 2-3 of the character cards that Madame Sosostris turns over. What do you think their significance is, in the poem? You can use enotes to help you. 3.Why might there be a blank card in the tarot pack? Why might is be ‘carried’ on someone’s ‘back’? 4.Can you find any allusions to Christianity? What effect does this have? 5.Who do you think the ‘crowds of people’ are and why are they ‘walking around in a ring?’ N.B this is a reference to Dante’s ‘Inferno.’ ‘Death by Water’ is a section later in the poem in which Phlebas the Phoenician died by drowning.

Unreal City, Under the brown fog of a winter dawn, A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, I had not thought death had undone so many. Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled, And each man fixed his eyes before his feet. Flowed up the hill and down King William Street, To where Saint Mary Woolnoth kept the hours With a dead sound on the final stroke of nine. There I saw one I knew, and stopped him, crying: “Stetson! “You who were with me in the ships at Mylae! “That corpse you planted last year in your garden, “Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year? “Or has the sudden frost disturbed its bed? “Oh keep the Dog far hence, that’s friend to men, “Or with his nails he’ll dig it up again! “You! hypocrite lecteur!—mon semblable,—mon frère!” Lines Why do you think that the city is/ seems ‘unreal’? 2.What do you make of the image of ‘the crowd flow[ing] over London Bridge […] undone’ by death?’ 3.Look at the descriptions of the crowd. Why do they ‘flow?’ 4.Look up ‘the ships at Mylae.’ Why might Eliot have incorporated this reference? 5.What do you make of the idea that a ‘corpse’ might ‘sprout’ and ‘bloom’? What theme does this relate to? Can you use your reading of the Vanessa Thorpe/ Guardian piece to help with your reading of this section?

Homework: Using your chosen course work question, write a response to ‘The Burial of the Dead.’ This should be no more than 500 words. Due Tuesday 17 th.