Kuhn 1!

Daniele Kuhn
Mr. Cosmin
English 102
3 March 2015
The Waste Land
The Waste Land is a poem with mixed ideas and topics that seem confusing to some
but masterful to others. The author, Thomas Stearns Eliot, better known as T. S. Eliot, wrote
during a difficult time in his life that simultaneously coincided with the general crisis in the
Western culture at that time.
Written by Thomas Stearns Eliot, better known as T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land was
written during an influential period that shaped the development of western civilization
throughout the twentieth century the modern era. While Eliots poem is considered a
masterpiece by some, many criticized the obscure and complicated nature of his poem (Rhee 4).
Pericles Lewis from Yale University Modernism Lab Essays writes,
Unhappily married, he [Eliot] suffered writers block and then a breakdown soon after the
war and wrote most of The Waste Land while recovering in sanatorium in Lausanne,
Switzerland, at the age of 33. He later described the poem as the relief of a personal and
wholly insignificant grouse against life just a piece of rhythmical grumbling. Yet the
poem seemed to his contemporaries to transcend Eliots personal situation and represent a
general crisis in western culture. (Lewis)
Semy Rhee seems to agree with Lewis in her thesis written for Liberty University: It [the poem]
proves to be a great modernist poem that demonstrates the prevalent philosophies of the

Kuhn 2!
era (Rhee 4). Rhee continues, saying that through the apparent confusion and chaos it presents,
the poem paints a picture in the mind of the reader of the disjointed and barren world a
metaphor of modern Europe (ibid). Coincidentally, Eliots poem reflects his personal experiences
amid the experience of western culture.
In the first quarter of his first paragraph, T. S. Eliot relates the unfolding of spring from
harsh winter quite masterfully. The reader is able to get a clear picture in their mind of what Eliot
is trying to present in his writing. He unfolds his thoughts using a small description, then he
confirms it with a word that adds to the description he wrote. For example, April is the cruellest
month, breeding. The words he uses to describe in fuller details his thoughts are verbs.
Interestingly, Eliot uses the word crullest to describe the pain of the death from the fall and
new life in spring. Eliot continues after the first line, Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing.
Again, he writes a description, followed by a descriptive verb to illustrate.
Eliot continues writing with the description verb pattern: Memory and desire, stirring.
Here he seems to be recalling past memories from the winter season the events, activities,
joys, sorrows, snowfalls, chilly mornings, and freezing evenings to an awakened desire for the
fresh verdure and warmth that spring will bring. Now he suddenly shifts from the description
verb pattern to a simple sentence. He shifts from his pattern of nine syllables to five: Dull roots
with spring rain. He contrasts the painful experience of winter on the roots that have now
become dull to spring rain that will them bring vivifying power.
Eliot now continues using description and verb, skillfully presenting the positive
attributes of winter. Despite winters chill, Eliot mentions the warmth that snow brought by
covering the bare ground: Winter kept us warm, covering. He seems to be linking himself with

Kuhn 3!
the ground that is beneath the covering snow. He continues depicting in proficient language the
activity beneath the covering snow: Earth in forgetful snow, feeding. In these last two lines
Eliot uses eight syllables, and following these two, he writes another simple sentence like the
first describing the condition beneath the covering snow: A life with dried tubers. Eliot is
masterfully painting a picture using words of the transition of winter to spring and all the
changes that take place in the process.
Contemplative, vivifying, happy, eager, and excitement are all emotions that Eliot seems
to bring to his readers in his poem. He brings to mind the bitter condition of winter while not
neglecting the blessings in it warm snow, the life underneath all while hinting at the new
life yet to come.
Suddenly, Eliot changes from describing the transition of winter to spring, to summer
arriving with a surprise. He adds very specific memories and events in his personal life, such as
the Starnbergersee, the colonnade, the Hofgarten and drinking coffee and talking for an
hour. He continues recalling his childhood experiences and conversations at the archdukes and
sledding with his cousins.
Eliot beautifully unfolds harsh winter into spring with descriptive words and suddenly
transitions into descriptions of summer with personal memories and indirectly, almost
imperceptibly, interwove personal experiences with those of the seasons and the Western culture,
in that both his life and Western culture was unrestful during that time.

Kuhn 4!
Works Cited
Lewis, Pericles. "The Waste Land." - Modernism Lab Essays. Yale University, n.d. Web. 02 Mar.
2015.
Rhee, Semy. "Post-War Europe: The Waste Land as a Metaphor." Thesis. Liberty University,
2012. Print.