The Waste Land and Other Poems by T.S. Eliot

Eliot’s poem refers to a crumbling world and, indeed, may itself seem like such heap of broken reflections of virtually everything, an entire library ( The Bible, The Upanishads, Homer, Ovid, Augustine, Dante, Chaucer, Malory, Shakespeare, Milton, Verlaine, Whitman, etc.) folded and wrapped and packed and compressed into a symbolic card game, tumbled, scattered chess pieces, a ragged tapestry, an intricate and elliptical origami. Here is a possible hint, though: “Son of man, / You cannot say or guess, for you know only / A heap of broken images” (20-22). And so, borrowing from Baudelaire, Eliot calls on to him (or her), as an unreliable brother (or sister), for support: “ Hypocrite lecteur, - mon semblable, - mon frère!” (v. Indeed, to get a sense of the poem, Eliot requires from the reader a level of effort that is almost commensurate with that of the poet himself. You have to grab your machete and carve your path into this thick bramble of verses and stanzas. In this cabbalistic poem, the reader is cast right into the middle of a scorching desert of rocks, a charred forest of words, reverberating multiple voices and languages - to the untrained eye, there is no way home anywhere. Not so with The Waste Land (1922, the same year as Ulysses a couple of years before Mrs. Most of it feels familiar, some surprises or exotic elements are laid out here and there for enjoyment, but the way home is straightforward go with the flow and enjoy the ride. With regular works of fiction, and possibly regular works of poetry, the reader expects to get his/her bearings with ease. Alfred Prufrock,' 'Geronition,' 'Ash-Wednesday,' and other poems from Eliot's early and middle work. In addition to the title poem, this selection includes 'The Love Song of J. Eliot was awarded the Nobel Price 'for his work as a trail-blazing pioneer of modern poetry.' 'In ten years' time,' wrote Edmund Wilson in Axel's Castle (1931), 'Elliot has left upon English poetry a mark more unmistakable than that of any other poet writing in English.' In 1948, T.S. Eventually, though, The Waste Land went on to become what many regard as the most influential poem written in English in the twentieth century. Critics attacked the poem's 'kaleidoscopic' design, and nearly everyone disagreed furiously about its meaning. When The Waste Land was published in 1922, initial reaction to the poem was decidedly negative. I will show you fear in a handful of dust” Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you

Your shadow at morning striding behind you

“And I will show you something different from either Librarian Note: Also available as an Alternate Cover Edition.

The Waste Land and Other Poems by T.S. Eliot