The Waste Land analysis (part 2) | I had not thought death had undone so many
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- Continuing my analysis of TS Eliot's iconic poem The Waste Land for part 2: analyzing the rest of The Burial Of The Dead, drawing out its deeper meaning, themes, and emotion through my own interpretations.
My Little Thought Tree is my channel for drawing out the deeper meaning and emotion in film, TV, and the world at large through relaxed, analytical video essays. I am a professional counsellor and often draw on my psychology and therapy background to better understand characters, themes, and emotion in fiction. I upload every Saturday and occasionally on Tuesdays, if I'm feeling productive.
Full playlist of The Waste Land analysis - • The Waste Land Analyis
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Music: Kevin MacLeod - Virtues Instrumenti
Reading by Alec Guinness
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#tseliot #wasteland #analysis
Plz complete the entire poem.... Truly wonderful explanation
I second this motion.
Hello just listened to parts 1 and 2 and agree..would love to have the analysis finish the poem …does anyone know if there are more parts ..thank you
I think your interpretation is very good! I'd like to point out some other possible interpretations though, if I may:
1) Some of Madame Sosostris' cards actually do exist in a standard Tarot deck, namely the 3 Staves, the Wheel, and the Hanged Man. In other part of the poem, Eliot relates the 3 Staves to the Fisher King, but the traditional card shows a man with his back to the viewer -- he's often interpreted as a someone heading on a long, possibly dangerous, journey. The Wheel is a card representing the Wheel of Fate. The Hanged Man shows a man hanging by his foot, upside down, from a tree -- so he's not dead, but he's obviously not far from it either. There's a tradition equating this card to the Norse god Odin, who hung himself from a tree for 9 days in order to gain knowledge (i.e. the Runes). I think that's also the "one-eyed Merchant" as well -- a symbol of Odin, who sacrificed one of his own eyes at the well of Mimir to buy himself a drink, which gave him clear-sightedness and wisdom. (Odin often traveled in disguise as a wandering merchant.) His pack is empty either because that's in reference to the "blank rune" (i.e. Fate again), or because Eliot is highlighting the futility of seeking wisdom, which would be in line with the other imagery. (This is getting long, so I'll continue this in another comment.)
Thank you thank you thank you for explaining this poem. Every time I went over it in school it was described only as a Where's Waldo of literary references and nothing else. No one talked about the overall message and purpose.
This has long been one of my favorite poems but you’ve opened my mind to a lot I’d never considered. Please continue, and then do Prufrock. This is fantastic.
(Part the Second) 2) The figures who are "flowing" along London Bridge in the Unreal City could be the dead, symbolically crossing the bridge to the next world. That's why they're described as flowing, like they're drifting in a current, as if this is just a reversal of the real world and the real London Bridge, and it also gives context to the line "I had not thought death had undone so many". Living people don't normally move that way in a crowd -- they push, jostle, run ahead, or simply walk with purpose. So Eliot is calling out to one of the dead that he recognizes, Stetson, but in the manner of the dead, Stetson doesn't reply back. That leads me to think that Stetson's corpse in his garden is his own corpse. It's probably not meant as a literal corpse, but rather the death of all of Stetson's hopes and dreams, everything that died with him, that will never have a chance to grow.
3) That could also point to what, or who, the "Dog" is. I think the Dog may be Cerebus, the three-eyed hound of Hades, who guards the entrance to the Underworld. Cerebus is meant to guard the dead on their journey, and although his appearance is fearsome, he's meant to be something of a guide so that the dead won't lose their way (a "friend of man"). However, in this world which is upside-down and makes no sense, Cerebus is forsaking his sacred duty and digging up corpses instead, disrespecting the very dead he's supposed to help. Eliot seems to be saying that there are so many dead that even Cerebus can't keep track of them all, turning him into an adversary instead, or just a random dog that runs on base instinct. (This could also echo the way Eliot's writing about the battle at Mylae, which was a victory for the Romans, but in this poem it reads more like a loss, or just a campaign without meaning, another image of utter futility.)
I like these thoughts, thankyou!
@@mylittlethoughttree You're welcome! Eliot is pretty challenging at the best of times. There's a lot to unpack in his poetry, and he was highly educated as well, so there's meanings nested in meanings -- like symbolic Russian dolls!
@@Cyssane so inlightening thoughts.. i loved them
where can i find more of your analyses and literature work?
Just discovered the chanel, but it's quickly becoming one of my favourites
Welcome to the club, me too as of last week❤️
Sometimes the yt algorithm does a good job
Been binging what I can of your content before mid-terms, and you’re fantastic m8.
Your analysis was so on point, comprehensible and valuable to me. I feel sorry you didn't finish the whole piece, you are clearly excellent in doing this challenging task. Hope you will come back to this eventually! But if not thanks for this!
Thanks. I genuinely think I will someday. I once wrote a script for the next video that I'm sure I could dig out again
Please do! I’m really enjoying this
Nice take again,
There is so much to unearth....
interestingly Hyacinths were used at the spring equinox(new year) in old Persia which conquered Phonecia making a war link with the sailor. the type of Hyacinths is not specified reds/ Pinks mean playfulness, Purple are for sorrow and plea for forgiveness for example. the other interest is the use of "late" i think we may interpret this in part as "deceased", arms full possibly carrying her/him as a body slowly dying and going down the tunnel of light. so it could be a change in te type of hyacinths last year in love this in mourning maybe a young soldier just gone to war... the loosing sight could be cataracts or pearl eyes. this dovetails with your comments well.
Next plant Belladonna Atropa which is poisonous and sedative, there maybe situations when it should be taken? Elliot would likely be aware that Atropos was the Greek Fate who cut the threads of a man life. the one eyed merchant is also represents the hermit (solitude and inward reflection) probably carrying the dead soldier. the drowning may be drowning in their own blood in the lungs or waterlogged trenches.the city is descriptive of where Elliot was working
Stetson company famous for hats they provided for military amongst others including the British frontiersmen who were practically wiped out in WWI, Hypocrite Reader is poss reading the Epitaph
Continue please!
Thank you for this clear and stimulating analysis of the first part of "The Waste Land". I think the visual presentation and the music are perfect for the mood and themes of this poem. There's not enough of this kind of content on UA-cam, so chapeau!
I would like to add (I may have simply missed the part where you mentioned it, so forgive me if that's the case), for the benefit of anybody who may be wondering about it, that "Hypocrite lecteur, - mon semblable, - mon frère!" is a quote from Charles Baudelaire's "Flowers of Evil", and it appears as the last line of "To the Reader", the poem that opens the collection. In that poem, Baudelaire is basically calling the reader a hypocrite that outwardly expresses shock at the vices and debaucheries that the poet describes in his work, but deep down is guilty of those same vices and debaucheries (that's why he calls the reader "my fellow", "my brother").
Anyway, I look forward to your analysis of the next parts of this intriguingly daunting poem.
Thankyou! 😊
Absolutely outstanding video - thank you for it.
Best explanation music
I wish this had been finished... you have a perspective on the poem I want to hear completed.
Beautiful interpretation! Would love to hear your thoughts on the rest of the poem! Or maybe on some other Eliots other works (i.e. Preludes or Prufrock)
when is the last good will hunting scene coming 💀💀
This is so good
Has anyone been able to find the subsequent section of The Wasteland analysis?
great channel! thank you for your thoughts! have you considered to make a video about the recent netflix dracula miniseries?
plz complete the poem
You know, I think I probably should
can you complete this analysis of the entire poem? i would be happy to sponsor the project...otherwise I feel as if in a rat's alley, where the dead men lost their bones
Dark Tower dudes!
Long days and pleasant nights!
@@thegreathornedowl5224 Thankee Sai! And may you have twice that number......
Ahhhh fuck! I just realised I'm a fuckin nerd!
@@SoonGone and that is ok haha
I know I said this already in the last video but could you do the it's not ur fault for good will hunting. Anyways love the channel
Your voice sounds a lot like Cosmic Skeptic. Is this the same person?
❤❤❤❤
Sweeeet