Wasteland portrays a somber and broken post-war world. Several phrases in this poem really strike me, but I still struggle seeing the historical context and the deep symbolism within them.
"He who was living is now dead / We who were living are now dying." Lines 328-329
Here I see a reflection. One sees the state of those who either gave up their lives or had them taken. In the opposite sense, one also sees the state in which they are in, and how it is not much better than the previous.
"What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow / Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man, / You cannot say, or guess, for you know only / A heap of broken images, where the sun beats, / And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief, / And the dry stone no sound of water. Only / There is shadow under this red rock," Lines 19-25
All looks bare, all looks broken. One sees no shelter, refuge, or relief. Even from the paragraph above this quotation where the poem begins, we see a twisted view of the seasons, as if the war had even ravaged nature, creating a greater wasteland. Several instances in this poem we see this broad and captivating scenery, although dreary and apocalyptic. We also see into the faces and lives of people living in this era from of the conversations and personifications. It all adds to the common theme, that the world is fallen and decaying. Evil had left a devastating mark and all had become wasteland since.
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"He who was living is now dead / We who were living are now dying." Lines 328-329
Here I see a reflection. One sees the state of those who either gave up their lives or had them taken. In the opposite sense, one also sees the state in which they are in, and how it is not much better than the previous.
"What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow / Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man, / You cannot say, or guess, for you know only / A heap of broken images, where the sun beats, / And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief, / And the dry stone no sound of water. Only / There is shadow under this red rock," Lines 19-25
All looks bare, all looks broken. One sees no shelter, refuge, or relief. Even from the paragraph above this quotation where the poem begins, we see a twisted view of the seasons, as if the war had even ravaged nature, creating a greater wasteland. Several instances in this poem we see this broad and captivating scenery, although dreary and apocalyptic. We also see into the faces and lives of people living in this era from of the conversations and personifications. It all adds to the common theme, that the world is fallen and decaying. Evil had left a devastating mark and all had become wasteland since.
_____
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