1. An Analysis By: Jarid Arnold, Brittany Lux, Derrik Reichard, and Dillon Snyder
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. “ Poi s’ascose nel foco che gli affina. Quando fiam uti chelidon – O swallow swallow Le Prince d’Aquitaine à la tour abolie”
9.
10.
Editor's Notes
Scenery description of the Ganges River and Himalayan provides a shift from the earlier part of the poem that reflected European struggle thus the struggles with Western thought.
The mention of the beneficent spider alludes to a passage from John Webster’s White Devil which is about an wife killing her own husband so she may continue her affair with her lover. It depicts the death and decay of sacred relationships. The entire passage is based on being selfish and how it will be seen after death. Datta is from Upanishad in the form of a fable.
The turning of the key is based on an even that occurred in Dante’s Inferno. A traitor named Ugolino tells Dante how he heard himself being locked into the tower and later ate his own children to save himself from stravation. Coriolanus was a Roman general who was abandoned by everyone in favor of his enemy. It shows how people reach a zenith of where they no longer show compassion or the ability to sympathize due to being too self involved.
Damyata, also from the Upanishads, means to be self controlled. It compares life to an open sea and you having the tools to guide your path through the sea. The sea can be gentle at times and others rough. Being in control of your life will equal happiness and the best results will become the outcome
The Fisher King is from an Arthurian legend who was wounded while fighting to keep the Grail safe. His kingdom becomes personified as it writhes away like he did. He earned his name because the only thing he had left to was fish. During fishing, he comes to terms with reality and learns that you should attempt to fix life though be realistic and content with what you have. A reference to the Biblical phrase “Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live” is used. The Fisher King begins to chant children’s rhymes and poem fragments in French and Latin showing that the world is a heavily fragmented place.
End of the poem becomes quite random with many literary references. Eliot refers to Dante’s Purgatorio with the line translating to from Arnaut saying “I beg you, that you find, guiding you to the summit of the stairway, think of my sorrow, sometimes, as you climb.” Arnaut then hides himself into a refining light. Written by Dante as a wall of scroching fire to purify the lustful. Arnaut was a poet of the Middle Ages. In Dante’s story, he is with the lustful and reminding Dante that his own punishment for having excessive lust will home. “O swallow swallow” is about a young Athenian princess who is raped by her brother in law,Tereus, who is married to her sister, Procne. With threatening to tell on him, he cuts out her tongue. The Olympian Gods eventually turn them into birds: Philomela being a swallow which have no song, Procne into a nightingale which has a sad song and Tereus as a predatory hawk.
Hieronymo went mad in process of waiting to avenge his son’s murder. “Why then Ile fit you” means why is that I accommodate you. Eliot suggests that people attempt to use fragments to overcome challenges in their life. He alludes that people would wait patiently for new opportunities to arise then take advantage of them.
Shantih – shantih – shantih is a formal ending to the Upanishad. The closing indicates that in order to gain peace we must give up the needs in our life by reconciling with the world and becoming zen in order to self peace.
![[object Object]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)