“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.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Poetry Appreciation
After Monday’s class I was really impressed with the way in which there are different ways of understanding a poem. Some people seem to only want to examine poetry from an academic standpoint, but I think we showed yesterday how this does not always need to be the case. In relation to academic understanding, Eliot says in the introduction to his poem, “In ‘The Waste Land’ I wasn’t even bothering whether I understood what I was saying” (473). Therefore, we can see that even Eliot wasn’t sure how his poem would be viewed academically. Yet, there are other ways to examine a poem, and I would like to talk about some of those ways.
The first and most obvious way I can think of is to gain appreciation for a poem by seeing the myriad ways people perceive it. In class I thought it was really interesting how the different groups presented their sections of the poem. Some gave dialogs, others acted out the action, and others even made their own little skits. Clearly, we all had different ways of looking at our material and presenting it, but in the end these different perspectives helped us understand the common theme in the poem about human degradation. Therefore, one way to appreciate a poem is by examining the different perspectives from which it can be viewed and seeing what can be learned from these different perspectives.
Another way to appreciate a poem is to examine its artistic merit. At many points throughout my reading I wasn’t entirely sure what Eliot’s point was, but I was still able to appreciate the fact that “The Waste Land” is very artistically written. Consider, for example, his lines which read “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.” (60-62). The wording is simple, but the imagery of the “brown fog” and the prospect of so many people left empty and “undone” by death creates a rather poignant, artistic portrayal of human life. Therefore, another way to appreciate a poem, even when the academic point of the poem is not clear, is to look for the places in which the poet displays artistic ability.
Do I have a deep understanding of “The Waste Land”? Certainly not. I still have a lot to learn from the study of this poem. Yet, after yesterday’s class I came away with the important understanding that a poem does not always have to be understood from the academic standpoint. Clearly, the artistic values the poem or the different ways in which it can perceived both add to an appreciation of the text. However, I’m still interested to see what we talk about tomorrow, as we continue our search for meaning in Eliot’s “The Waste Land.”
The first and most obvious way I can think of is to gain appreciation for a poem by seeing the myriad ways people perceive it. In class I thought it was really interesting how the different groups presented their sections of the poem. Some gave dialogs, others acted out the action, and others even made their own little skits. Clearly, we all had different ways of looking at our material and presenting it, but in the end these different perspectives helped us understand the common theme in the poem about human degradation. Therefore, one way to appreciate a poem is by examining the different perspectives from which it can be viewed and seeing what can be learned from these different perspectives.
Another way to appreciate a poem is to examine its artistic merit. At many points throughout my reading I wasn’t entirely sure what Eliot’s point was, but I was still able to appreciate the fact that “The Waste Land” is very artistically written. Consider, for example, his lines which read “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.” (60-62). The wording is simple, but the imagery of the “brown fog” and the prospect of so many people left empty and “undone” by death creates a rather poignant, artistic portrayal of human life. Therefore, another way to appreciate a poem, even when the academic point of the poem is not clear, is to look for the places in which the poet displays artistic ability.
Do I have a deep understanding of “The Waste Land”? Certainly not. I still have a lot to learn from the study of this poem. Yet, after yesterday’s class I came away with the important understanding that a poem does not always have to be understood from the academic standpoint. Clearly, the artistic values the poem or the different ways in which it can perceived both add to an appreciation of the text. However, I’m still interested to see what we talk about tomorrow, as we continue our search for meaning in Eliot’s “The Waste Land.”
T.S. Eliot and The Waste Land
Ok.. SO. The Waste Land
When I first read this, I had no idea what was going on. There were so many voices and conversations that I couldn't understand the point. I'm not good at reading poetry in this first place so it was quite confusing for me to read this. However, after yesterdays class, I actually understood it better. I liked it, really. To me, my interpretation of the poem is the fall of humanity and all it entails. All the corruptions, the greed, the "wrong-doings", all the negative things are what is going to bring our country to its lowest point. It actually makes me think of the Book of Revelations a bit. Since the Book of Revelations warns what will happen, Eliot's The Waste Land could possibly serve as an example of what is occurring. Just a thought.
I really enjoyed our group activity and it definitely helped me understand the seconds (chosen) better. When my group was doing ours (group 2), it initially made me think of someone who was sitting in a dirty room, going crazy. I'm not sure if anyone has seen the History Channel's special series "America: The Story of Us" over the summer (or recently) but it fits in with the point of Eliot's poem. This poem was written in about the time when cities all around the country were facing deep economic concerns, famine, and death. Each city had it's "slum" area. In NYC, for example as presented by the series, was the Lower East Side. There, people were dumping their waste (including feces) out their window. People were living and dying on the streets, there was prostitution, crime, everything horrible you can think of.
I'm not positive that Eliot wrote this as a reaction to what was going on in America's cities but it definitely fits together. That's my little historical connection with this poem. Can't wait to talk about it more in class tomorrow!
When I first read this, I had no idea what was going on. There were so many voices and conversations that I couldn't understand the point. I'm not good at reading poetry in this first place so it was quite confusing for me to read this. However, after yesterdays class, I actually understood it better. I liked it, really. To me, my interpretation of the poem is the fall of humanity and all it entails. All the corruptions, the greed, the "wrong-doings", all the negative things are what is going to bring our country to its lowest point. It actually makes me think of the Book of Revelations a bit. Since the Book of Revelations warns what will happen, Eliot's The Waste Land could possibly serve as an example of what is occurring. Just a thought.
I really enjoyed our group activity and it definitely helped me understand the seconds (chosen) better. When my group was doing ours (group 2), it initially made me think of someone who was sitting in a dirty room, going crazy. I'm not sure if anyone has seen the History Channel's special series "America: The Story of Us" over the summer (or recently) but it fits in with the point of Eliot's poem. This poem was written in about the time when cities all around the country were facing deep economic concerns, famine, and death. Each city had it's "slum" area. In NYC, for example as presented by the series, was the Lower East Side. There, people were dumping their waste (including feces) out their window. People were living and dying on the streets, there was prostitution, crime, everything horrible you can think of.
I'm not positive that Eliot wrote this as a reaction to what was going on in America's cities but it definitely fits together. That's my little historical connection with this poem. Can't wait to talk about it more in class tomorrow!
T.S. Eliot
T.S. Eliot has not always been my favorite poet, but as we’ve discussed him in class I’ve grown to like him more and more. Although I wasn’t very fond of his essays, I enjoyed going over “The Love Song of J. ALfred Prufrock.” I think it’s very interesting because we are able to take it’s meaning in several different directions. Although he probably had a certain purpose for the words, I find them very ambiguous and, as readers, we are able to put our own thoughts and idea’s into the meaning behind the words.
I’m very excited for the “Wasteland.” Although I’ve read it at least six times, and discussed it in other class, I can’t seem to grasp the concept of it. I’m hoping that this time around my eyes will be opened up, and I’ll find enjoyment in the odd poem.
I'm beginning to like him a little more already.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
The Waste Land
Eliot's "The Waste Land" is arguably the best work he ever created. However, this brilliant work is also one of the most difficult to comprehend. Scholars have been studying this particular piece for years and yet no one can definitely say they know what it means in its entirety.
The title itself could have various meanings. It could refer to the modern city, the state of the world, the darkness of human capability, the collapse of civilization and progress, or simply the idea of regeneration. The poem also has some recurrent themes such as death and rebirth which appears in lines 1-4 in the first part of the poem, "The Burial of the Dead." This death and rebirth theme can be shown in many ways: someone needs to restore our lives back to health, morality is dead, and religious meaning is dead.
Throughout the "The Waste Land," there is no coherent narrative. Eliot tries to show us this poem instead of telling us the poem. It's made up of numerous fragmented parts; each contributes to a larger meaning. I argue that Eliot wanted to break up the poem into sections because each of them are complex. By breaking them up into parts the reader is able to see the situation more clearly. As people, we try to smooth out the difficulties in life when it's too complicated. This is exactly what I believe he was going for. Every person is the same person and every journey is the same journey.
The title itself could have various meanings. It could refer to the modern city, the state of the world, the darkness of human capability, the collapse of civilization and progress, or simply the idea of regeneration. The poem also has some recurrent themes such as death and rebirth which appears in lines 1-4 in the first part of the poem, "The Burial of the Dead." This death and rebirth theme can be shown in many ways: someone needs to restore our lives back to health, morality is dead, and religious meaning is dead.
Throughout the "The Waste Land," there is no coherent narrative. Eliot tries to show us this poem instead of telling us the poem. It's made up of numerous fragmented parts; each contributes to a larger meaning. I argue that Eliot wanted to break up the poem into sections because each of them are complex. By breaking them up into parts the reader is able to see the situation more clearly. As people, we try to smooth out the difficulties in life when it's too complicated. This is exactly what I believe he was going for. Every person is the same person and every journey is the same journey.
T.S. Eliot, A Genius
T.S. Eliot was an extremely talented individual. His works, though at times difficult to follow, are truly unique. Eliot could easily be named the greatest poet of his time. Personally, I admire him most for his rebellion against the norm. Eliot broke away from traditional form, rhyme, and even meter. He rejected a lot of 19th Century poetry, like the works of Wordsworth and Tennyson. T.S. Eliot believed that poetry should be an intellectual pursuit, not a romantic or emotional one. I completely agreed with his idea that poetry should be challenging. One poem in particular, The Waste Land, is still extremely challenging to even some scholars. I'm interested in our class discussions on that poem most of all.
Eliot
I’ve read “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” a few times for various classes and have always thoroughly enjoyed it. Part of the reason that I love it so much is the use of imagery. There are two images that I see in this poem that really stand out.
The first is the foggy cat. In the stanza that begins on line 15, we get the image of the cat. “The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes/Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening.” I can’t imagine in my wildest dreams coming up with idea to personify fog as a cat. Funny enough though, it works. I can juxtapose these two images in my mind and it makes sense.
I also love how Eliot gives us a particular image of Mr. Prufrock. I think in every class that I have every read this poem, we have always all described him in the same way. He’s a nervous, middle-aged, balding kind of man. It is almost like I know him personally. I also love the way Eliot sets the tone of the poem with such a silly name.
As far as the articles are concerned, yes, they were a little dry. In general though, I do think it is interesting how Eliot takes such an intellectual approach to poetry. Poetry was something that I always thought of as coming from the heart, as deriving itself from sheer emotions (the good stuff at least). I guess I was wrong…or at least not 100 percent right.
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