Wasteland

“Death by Water” was the shortest part of the poem, but I thought it was one of the easiest sections for me to discern. In short, Phlebas has died by drowning, and in death all worldly concerns cease to matter. Phlebas’s body is then picked away by “whispers”, and I think the message is that inevitably our bodies will one day die and decay, as we head toward a “whirlpool” through the ages and stages of youth. Eliot warns the “you” who “turns the wheel and look to windward” to “consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you”. He is telling us not to turn a blind eye to death, and not to put the reality of our deteriorations out of mind just because we may be young, “handsome”, and able bodied now. The contemporary state of our beings is fading, and just as the Phoenician sailor, long forgotten, we will be forgotten as well.

Another interesting element of this poem is the connection to Madam Sosostris’s prophecy in the first section. “With a wicked pack of cards” she pulls the card of a “drowned Phoenician Sailor”, so there seems to be correlation between the two parts of the poem, and the clairvoyant’s prophecy coming true. In conclusion, this section of the poem is a small fragment in comparison to the other sections; however, the meaning resounds and connects to earlier passages.