Kennedy 1

Colleen Kennedy
Dr. Auge
British/Irish Poetry
8 April 2014

The Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne,

Glowed on the marble, where the glass
Held up by standards wrought with fruited vines
From which a golden Cupidon peeped out
(Another hid his eyes behind his wing)
Doubled the flames of sevenbranched candelabra
Reflecting light upon the table as
The glitter of her jewels rose to meet it,
From satin cases poured in rich profusion;
In vials of ivory and coloured glass
Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes,
Unguent, powdered, or liquidtroubled, confused
And drowned the sense in odours; stirred by the air
That freshened from the window, these ascended
In fattening the prolonged candle-flames,
Flung their smoke into the laquearia,
Stirring the pattern on the coffered ceiling.
Huge sea-wood fed with copper
Burned green and orange, framed by the coloured stone,
In which sad light a carvd dolphin swam.
Above the antique mantel was displayed
As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene
The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king
So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale
Filled all the desert with inviolable voice
And still she cried, and still the world pursues,
Jug Jug to dirty ears.
And other withered stumps of time
Were told upon the walls; staring forms
Leaned out, leaning, hushing the room enclosed.
Footsteps shuffled on the stair.
Under the firelight, under the brush, her hair
Spread out in fiery points
Glowed into words, then would be savagely still.

The Waste Land II. The Chess Game

The Significance and Analysis of The Waste Land
T. S. Eliots The Waste Land is one of the most well-known and
important literary works in modern literature. It was written in the middle of
his career. He had already published other poems before he came out with
The Waste Land. I found The Waste Land to be a really interesting and
challenging poem and that was really why I wanted to write more about it. I

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think that there are parts of the poem that do not get as much recognition
and attention as others, but show Eliots message about modernity just as
strongly. The second part of the poem The Chess Game really
demonstrates the dull and disconnected elements of modernity. The Waste
Land provides a commentary on the destructive effects of modernity that
were present in the early 20th century and that are still present today.
T. S. Eliot wrote The Waste Land with the intention of it being
Stravinskys Le Sacre du Printemps ballet in a poetic form. The ballet proved
to be prophetic of the chaos that came with World War I. Both the poem and
the ballet show the chaos and choppiness that is associated with modernism.
The Waste Land was written in 1922, 4 years after World War I. It showed
the loss of human connection and value that society had before modernity. It
had evidence of sterility, degradation of religious tradition, individuals being
lost in the masses, materialism, human relationships being debased, and a
disenchantment with the world throughout the five different parts of the
poem. They all reflected the chaos and destruction that World War I brought.
The fifth part also ends with hope for change and creation. To the people of
1922, it brought hope for things to get better since the war was over.
The Waste Land demonstrates the negative progression of the world.
People begin to care more and more about material objects and appearances
instead of nature and human relationships. This is shown through the
emphasis that Eliot puts on the actions of the objects present in the
aristocratic womans room. Doubled the flames of seven branched
candelabra Reflecting light upon the table as The glitter of her jewels rose to

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meet it, From satin cases poured in rich profusion; (lines 82-85). The lack of
motion present in the aristocratic woman is emphasized by the activity
described in the objects in the room. Their movements are grand and all of
the objects are active. This is in contrast to the passivity of the aristocratic
woman. In vials of ivory and coloured glass Unstoppered, lurked her
strange synthetic perfumes, Unguent, powdered, or liquidtroubled,
confused and drowned the sense in odours; (lines 86-89). Not only are the
objects active, but they take over the room. The smells from the numerous
perfumes that the woman owns drench the room in their scents. The
descriptions of the objects that follow make the reader forget that the
woman is even there. She drowns in the room of possessions.
Eliot contrasts the movements and descriptions of the objects in the
grand room with the aristocratic woman who owns all of the aforementioned
possessions. While the objects are described in great detail and are very
animated, the woman is given no features or characteristics and hardly any
action. The Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne, Glowed on the marble
(lines 1-2). From the moment the woman is mentioned, she is glossed over.
She receives no further description, so that the only thing that we know
about her is that she is sitting in a chair surrounded by elegant possessions.
We do not know what she looks like or what she is doing, just that she is
sitting there. Her lack of action is further emphasized by the activity of her
possessions. In light of their activity, she appears boring and although she is
of great status, she is no longer interesting to the reader. Under the
firelight, under the brush, her hair Spread out in fiery points (lines 108-109).

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When Eliot returns to the woman, it is at the end of the section. She is
simply brushing her hair, staying consistent with the boring persona that
Eliot created earlier. Her possessions have become what is interesting about
her. They tell stories and, in a way, have lives of their own. She has become
nothing without her beloved possessions, just like we will and our society will
if we continue to place so much value in our possessions.
T.S. Eliot uses more than verbs to convey meaning in The Waste
Land. His allusion to a Greek myth gives this part of the poem a deeper
meaning. Above the antique mantel was displayed As though a window
gave upon the sylvan scene The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king
So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale Filled all the desert with inviolable
voice And still she cried, and still the world pursues Jug Jug to dirty ears.
(lines 97-105). Eliot introduces the allusion to Philomels story to The Waste
Land. Philomel first introduced in myth as attired in rich apparel (47).
Tereus brings Philomel back with him to his kingdom to visit her sister
Procne, his wife. Upon seeing her beauty, he decides to sexually assault her
instead of bringing her to Procne. To prevent Philomel from telling anyone
about his crime, he cuts out her tongue. The only way that she is able to
communicate is through energy that comes off as sparks from her hair. Eliot
uses the Philomel myth to show the aristocratic womans inability to
communicate. Under the firelight, under the brush, her hair Spread out in
fiery points Glowed into words, then would be savagely still. (lines 98-100).
The aristocratic woman takes on the role of a modern-day Philomel. It is
possible that she has been violated in the same way that Philomel was by

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Tereus, but what is most important is the similarity in their lack of
communication. The aristocratic woman uses the fiery points from her hair
to speak, but they do not convey any actual meaning. Her material
possessions and modern day extravagances have left her as voiceless as
Philomel.
This entire section of the poem emphasizes the negative qualities
present in modernity. The woman has no actual action; she is completely
passive in this section. Many of the concepts of modernity are present in the
scene described. The depth of detail that Eliot gives the objects in the room
instead of the woman demonstrates commodity fetishism. That is, the
objects are given a value that is higher than their original use. Huge seawood fed with copper Burned green and orange, framed by the coloured
stone, In which sad light a carvd dolphin swam. (Lines 94-96) All of the
objects have more meaning and significance than the woman does. She is
an aristocratic woman; she is supposed to be living an interesting life.
Instead, her possessions lead the interesting life, and we do not even know
her name. The excess of grand and elegant jewels, chandeliers, and other
extravagant items also suggest a disenchantment of the world. The woman
is surrounded by all of these amazing and beautiful objects and all she does
is brush her hair. She is passive, while all of these commodities are full of
life. She has no appreciation for the things around her. She also has no
desire to see anything outside of her secluded world. Her world is
completely fake, with no presence of nature or reality. She is stuck in a
fantasy world with no connection to the outside.

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Eliot highlights the poems modernity through the structure of the
poem. He uses enjambment to make the objects appear more interesting
than they already are. Glowed on the marble, where the glass Held up by
standards wrought with fruited vines (lines 78-79). Eliots use of
enjambment here makes it seem like the line following the glass will be very
important and exciting. In reality, the enjambment actually emphasizes the
opposite. It continues to give the ornate mirror and the other objects in the
womans room more attention and meaning than they are worth. It
demonstrates the chaos and meaninglessness of modernity.
Sevenbranched candelabra Reflecting light upon the table as The glitter of
her jewels rose to meet it, (lines 82-84). Eliot uses enjambment again to
build up the readers hopes for something interesting to happen. It creates a
faade around the beautiful objects; instead of seeing them for their face
value and their initial purpose, we once again put them on pedestals and
adore them. The most important enjambment is the last lines of this section
where the woman is brushing her hair. It emphasizes the womans lack of
communication and the despair that comes with it. All of these components
that are highlighted by Eliots use of enjambment are associated with
modernity and the destruction that is has caused to society. Eliot uses a
simple setting to show how even the private world has been affected by
modernity, and that it may actually be the place most affected.
Although The Waste Land was written over 90 years ago, it can still
be easily applied to our culture and society today. Our culture today is very
reminiscent of the society that Eliot paints a picture of in his poem. We are a

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society obsessed with technology and cars and expensive clothing. We
hardly ever stop and think about what is going on in other parts of the world,
or what kind of effect our culture has on us. We place all of our value the
material items that we own, and often times superficially judges others
based on what they do or do not have. This kind of self-involved behavior is
mimicked in the aristocratic woman in the poem. She has all of these
fabulous jewels and priceless decorations in her room, but she herself has no
substance. The poem makes us question what we really value. We have to
ask ourselves if we are really like the aristocratic woman among all of her
expensive things with nothing really to offer the world, or if we break away
from this mold. While the poem does replicate society today, it does not
apply to everyone. There is the assumption in the poem that people are
materialistic and enjoy objects over time with people. However, there are
people who have more money than they could possibly need, who are
constantly giving money to charities and raising awareness for important
causes. While the woman in the room gets lost in her wealth, these people
use their wealth to try to change society and prevent more people from
being focused solely on material objects. These people exist now, and they
existed make when this poem was written. It is easier to assume that the
most advertised values are the most practiced than to seek out those that
are the exceptions.
The Waste Land exhibits the effects that modernity can have on both
a society and on individual people. Through the lack of interactions that the
aristocratic woman has with other people and her excessive material

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possessions, Eliot shows how dull and destructive modernity can be to a
culture. The objects are put on pedestals for simply looking appealing.
These twisted values are further shown through Eliots use of enjambment.
Although it is a difficult poem to comprehend at first, The Waste Land
shows a very startling and accurate interpretation of what society is like
when we rely on things instead of one another.