T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” Essay Sample

Eliot imparts to us the Grail quest’s influence on “The Waste Land” in the notes:

“Not merely the rubric. but the program and a good trade of the incidental symbolism of the verse form were suggested by Miss Jessie L. Weston’s book on the Grail fable: From Ritual to Romance ( Macmillan ) . Indeed. so profoundly am I indebted. Miss Weston’s book will clarify the troubles of the verse form much better than my notes can make ; and I recommend it ( apart from the great involvement of the book itself ) to any who think such elucidation of the verse form worth the problem. ”

Indeed. much of the verse form reflects the narrative of the Grail quest itself ; when confronted with a comfortable land turned into waste as a consequence of the wounding or sick wellness of the Fisher King who presides over the land. a hero begins a pursuit which finally must reconstruct the male monarch to wellness in order to “free the waters” ( R2R ) and reconstruct the land itself.

As the hero must mend this desolate barren which was one time a happy and lively topographic point. so excessively are traces of happier times distressingly remembered among devastation and desperation throughout “The Waste Land. ” seen even in the gap of the verse form:

“April is the barbarous month. genteelness
Lilacs out of the dead land. blending
Memory with desire. stirring
Dull roots with spring rain. ”