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The WasteLand (by T.S. Eliot) M.A. English Previous Poetry – Unit-IV Semester – II.

[Audio] We are Rachna Rathore from the Department of English Language at Jiwaji University in Gwalior (M P ). Today, our topic of discussion will be the various themes and motifs present in T S Eliot's poem The Waste Land..

[Audio] Good morning class, today we will be discussing Thomas Stearns Eliot and his significant works. Eliot was born in Missouri on September 26, 1888, in St Louis, Missouri, an inland industrial city of America. He was the son of Henry Ware Eliot and Charlotte Chaincey Stearns. His first volume of poetry, Prufrock and Other Observations, appeared in 1917. Another important poem of Eliot was The Waste Land, which was published in 1922. Eliot’s Christian Poetry appeared from 1925 to 1935. He also wrote some religious poetry, Prose and Verse Dramas. Eliot was influenced by Indian Literature & Philosophy, Ezra Pound, Metaphysical poets, Dante and French Symbolists. This is why Eliot was granted a Nobel Prize in Literature and an Order of Merit in 1948. Some of his famous poems include Four Quartets and Ash Wednesday. Eliot is also known as a critic. He wrote a few of his early critical essays, such as The Sacred Wood, Homage to John Dryden, Selected Essays: 1917–1932, The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism, and Notes towards the Definition of Culture. Eliot died in London on January 4, 1965..

[Audio] Eliot's most famous and well-known work is The Waste Land, published in 1922. The Waste Land is divided into five sections: The Burial of the Dead, A Game of Chess, The Fire Sermon, Death by Water, and What the Thunder Said. Eliot's poem The Burial of the Dead discusses the disillusionment of the post-war generation and the sterility of modern man. He cites several causes of this disintegration, including sexual perversion, loss of faith and moral values, lack of human relationships, commercialization of life, mental tension, politics, and wars. At its core, The Waste Land is a reminder of the Christian doctrine of re-birth through prayer and suffering and death. The poem is not just about ideas and thoughts, but also about feelings and experiences. The Waste Land is a powerful reflection on the disillusionment and sterility that can arise from the modern world..

[Audio] We are delighted to present The WasteLand by T S Eliot. In this section, we will be analyzing the first part of the poem, titled The Burial of the Dead. The poem begins with a vivid description of how terrible spring is. The line Spring is nature’s way of dying illustrates this point, as it implies that nature is not able to sustain itself during this season. Next, we are introduced to a German woman named Marie. Her childhood is portrayed in great detail, as she is described as being unhappy and isolated. This serves to highlight the negative impact that war can have on individuals and society as a whole. The poet then moves on to describe a literal “wasteland,” with infertile grounds and dead trees. This serves to emphasize the devastation that war can cause on the environment. Finally, we come to The Burial of the Dead, where the speaker goes into London, which is overrun by zombies. The line Stetson, the dead figure from a past war, was asked about the fortune of a dead body that was concealed in his garden illustrates this point. The zombies serve as a symbol of the death and destruction that war causes. Overall, this section of the poem serves to highlight the negative impact that war can have on society, both on individuals and the environment. It is important to understand these impacts in order to learn from them and prevent them from happening again..

[Audio] We will now analyze the second section of T S Eliot's The Waste Land, which is titled A Game of Chess. In this section, a wealthy woman sits in her exquisite room, crying as an image of Philomel, a woman from ancient Greek myths who was raped by King Tereus, appears on the wall..

[Audio] We are pleased to inform you that Your comprehension of The Fire Sermon has been aided by the analysis provided. Thank you for choosing to participate in our session today..

[Audio] We welcome you to our M A English program. Today, we will discuss the fourth section of T S Eliot's The Waste Land, specifically the section titled Death by Water. In this section, the story of Phlebas the Phoenician, a skilled navigator in ancient times, is told. The narrator describes Phlebas' life as one spent navigating the deep sea, but now he was no longer. He had forgotten the cry of the gulls and the rise and fall of the waves. His materialistic activities had ended. The narrator also describes how Phlebas' body was caught in a whirlpool and he was seen no more. The lesson we can take from Phlebas' tragic death is to have faith in God and to leave our destiny in His hands. We need to remember that our actions in this world may seem important, but ultimately, our materialistic pursuits are fleeting and meaningless. In conclusion, the fourth section of The Waste Land serves as a reminder of the importance of faith and the futility of materialism. We must take this lesson to heart and strive to live a more meaningful life..

[Audio] We move to the fifth section of the poem titled What the Thunder Said. This section presents a dry and barren landscape that lacks any source of water. Two characters are seen walking in the scene, and they are joined by a third figure who is not physically present. Suddenly, the thunder cracks overhead and it seems like it is saying three words in Sanskrit: give, sympathize, and control. The word Shantih is repeated several times in the scene, which means the peace that passeth all understanding. At the end of this section, Eliot offers a glimmer of hope. Despite the destruction and despair that surrounds the characters, they are able to find faith in the idea that even if civilization is destroying itself, there is still the possibility of peace and understanding. The Waste Land is a thought-provoking and powerful poem, and it continues to resonate with readers today. I encourage you to deeply consider the themes and ideas presented in this section and how they relate to our own lives and experiences. Thank you for your attention..

[Audio] We are pleased to welcome you to our presentation on The Waste Land by T S Eliot. Today, we will be discussing the use of irony, the important themes, a critical appreciation, and the statement A sigh for the vanished glory of the past in relation to The Waste Land. Let's start with Q.1, which focuses on the use of irony in The Waste Land. Irony is a literary device where the meaning of a word or phrase is different from its literal meaning. In The Waste Land, Eliot uses irony to convey a sense of disillusionment and despair. For example, the line These fragments I have shored against my ruins is ironic because it suggests that the speaker has tried to prevent the chaos and destruction that surrounds him, but it is ultimately too late. Similarly, the line April is the cruellest month is ironic because it suggests that the speaker is experiencing a sense of joy and happiness, but the opposite is actually true. Moving on to Q.2, we will now discuss the important themes of The Waste Land. The Waste Land is a poem that explores a range of themes, including disillusionment, despair, and the search for meaning. The speaker is constantly grappling with the aftermath of the First World War, and he struggles to find any sense of purpose or meaning in the world. The poem also explores the idea of memory and the past, as the speaker reflects on the vanished glory of the past. Finally, the poem touches on the idea of the natural world and the human relationship with it, as the speaker grapples with the idea of the role of humans in the world. Moving on to Q.3, we will now attempt a critical appreciation of The Waste Land. The Waste Land is an important and influential poem that has had a significant impact on modern literature. Eliot's use of language and imagery is masterful, and his exploration of the themes of disillusionment, despair, and the search for meaning is both poignant and powerful. The poem is also notable for its fragmented structure, which reflects the speaker's sense of dislocation and fragmentation. Finally, moving on to Q.4, we will now examine the statement A sigh for the vanished glory of the past in relation to The Waste Land. The statement is ironic because it suggests that the speaker is experiencing a sense of joy and happiness in the present, but the opposite is actually true. The poem is a lament for the lost glory of the past, and the speaker is struggling to find any sense of purpose or meaning in the world. Thank you for joining us today. We hope you found this presentation informative and thought-provoking..