T.

S Eliot’s poem Wasteland and Modernism

April is the cruelest month,Breeding lilacs out of the dead land,Mixing memory
and desire,Stirring dull root
s with spring rain.” (ll. 1– 
4)(T.S Eliot, The Waste Land, 1922)

T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land has been regarded as one of the most important
modern poems. The work addresses modernity
and the lost connection to high culture and fine art. Eliot’s concept
of utopia was rapidly drifting even as he created this piece. The poem has been
known to perplex even the most attentive audiences. Throughout the poem Eliot
alludes to classic literature which alienates many readers. The literature
referenced pans across various cultures even including foreign languages. Theuse
of a variety of works created what Pericles Lewis calls a “collage of poetic
fragments to create the sense of speaking foran entire culture in crisis.” Eliot
challenged the audience to critically analyze the poem in hopes of sparking
a connection to a

dying tradition. Lewis continues to explain how “the poet seeks toaddress modern
problems—the war, industrialization, abortion,urban life—and at the same
time to participate in a literary
tradition
.”
 The Waste Land
’s coded language initially seems
 jumbled, however, under the obscure references is a vitalmessage.
And I will show you something different from eitherYour shadow at morning
striding behind youOr your shadow at evening rising to meet you;I will show you
fear in a handful of dust. (ll 27
 – 
30)
The poem is split into five sections and includes shifting betweenspeakers, time,
and location. The poem quickly leaves behindeven the most skilled reader as Eliot
seamlessly makes histransitions.
The opening of the poem is called “The Burial of TheDead” and is seemingly the
easiest to follow. However, the tone is
somber as there is continuous referencing to death and rebirth.Nature is used as
a vehicle to explain the endless cycle whichseems to exhaust the speaker. Section
one dives into deepchildhood memories that show a clear yearning due to
unmetdesires. Yet even this portion that initially is simple to follow shiftsinto
what appears to be a completely different work.Eliot visits various
topics throughout the next four sections. Thetopics range between Greek
mythology, lackluster sexualencounters, and death of a sailor. Throughout the
three middleportions the shifts and allusions are almost impossible to
followduring the first read as
“the fragments merge with one another,pass into one another”(
Levenson). This proves Eliot to besuccessful in his attempt to force the reader to
be conscientious.While reading one is left with this overwhelming
spinningsensation as each speaker seems to be beg to be heard. This could be a
direct connection to Eliot’s personal feelings of the
decline of humanity that he is witnessing. Lewis best explains thisby describing:
The method of assembling “fragments” or “broken images” from
the past into a sort of mosaic allows him at once to suggestparallels between
contemporary problems and earlier historicalsituations and to disorient the
reader, turning the reading processinto a model of modern, urban confusion. It
parallels the cubistuse of collage, calling attention to the linguistic texture of
thepoem itself and to the material.The dystopia forming around him is abrupt and
unbending. Similarto great thinkers like Matthew Arnold and Theodor W.
Adorno,Eliot appreciated thoroughness of thought and attention to cultureand
art.
The poem functions as an outlet for Eliot’s anxieties around the
loss of cultural and moral identity. He is vocalizing his distaste forhis surroundings
in a post-World War I society. The title TheWaste Land describes his sentiments of
the dry infertile world. A
world that “lacks traditional structures of authority and belief” thusonly
containing “soil that may not be conducive to new growth”
(Lewis). Section five of the poem reconnects to the initial ideasfound in section
one. Eliot Says:
“There is not even silence in the mountains
 But dry sterile thunder without rainThere is not even solitude in the mountains (ll
341
 – 
343)
The poem uses various metaphors to describe the moraldegradation
taking place. Eliot’s writing techniques are
unmatched as he juxtaposes popular culture to ancient culture ina deliberate
attempt to disorient the reader. The text is truly
 
supercilious as only few are meant to understand and grasp thefragmented work.
Eliot uses his knowledge of the literary canon toaddress the downfall of humanity
due to greed, and the needof instant satisfaction. One could argue that Eliot
is speakingdirectly to the public, or to no one at all. His message would likelyfall
upon deaf ears, or ears unable to decode his complexlanguage. The work is truly
modern as he uses an abundance ofimagery, switching of characters, and
intentional fragmentation.All of these techniques are used to declare
his objections ofa morally corrupt
world. Thomas Eliot’s Utopia was rapidly
slipping away as a dystopian world full of culture that now
“impresses the same stamp on everything”(
Adorno) emerged.