Analysis of a Quotation from T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land”
April is the cruelest month, breeding
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers. (Eliot)
T. S. Eliot’s renowned poem “The Waste Land” denotes his dissatisfaction with the state of modern life in general, a work that mirrors the degraded confusion of the WWI ravaged Europe. It utilizes the integration of mythology into his poetic expression, with numerous references, which result in a narrative that is almost lacking in coherence. His introductory lines offer a glimpse into his dark pessimism that colors the entire poem, in which Eliot endeavors to portray a mimetic edition of life as he perceives it: meaningless and in shambles.
The fact that April is the cruelest of all months is the literary advice exemplifying a paradox, which is a contrasting image of what something actually represents, as it is the case with April being the bearer of the blossoming of spring, which in turn stands for the symbol of rebirth and regeneration, and the poet calls it the cruelest month. However, the reflection hinted at is not the one of beautiful regeneration of life, but rather of barren lands breeding flowers no one wants or needs, which is yet another paradox, because, logic narrates that nothing can grow out of dead land. This is an unnecessary blossoming that does not stem from a wish to look into the future, because the poet associates his surroundings, as well as the inner state of his mind and soul, as infertile, as land that is dead, out of which no beauty can be extracted. He is of the belief that the modern man prefers the numbness of winter and its shelter from different, better times which are now long gone and almost impossible to be brought back. Now, this regeneration is waking up memories from their elongated slumber, poking at the roots to move, to stir, to create and to reanimate themselves.
However, as it is the case with most people, memories that have been kept under what Eliot calls forgetful snow, which is a literary device referred to as anthropomorphism, giving human characteristics to an inanimate entity, such as regarding snow as forgetful, being able to erase one’s own or someone else’s memory. These memories are reluctant to surface to the light of day, and prefer perpetual winter to the renewal of the life cycle taking place in springtime. This process is merging these still slumbering memories with desire, which stands as a symbol of confrontation of the present and the past, in the sense that the poet feels he can no longer turn a blind eye to the juxtaposition of events as they are and events as he wants them to be. The desire for things he could have had is powerful and he cannot bear the pain of disillusionment and disappointment. Thus, he wishes for a perpetual winter of only memories, a winter which kept him warm, which is yet another contrasting image of a paradox, because the knowledge of the fact that better things in life exist for other people, but not for himself, is agonizing.
This idea also connotes with the modernist writers’ notion of the lost and unattainable ideal, which is making one’s life a mere survival, just like it is the case with the prologue to the poem, where Sybil keeps herself alive in a jar, because she foolishly asked, and was granted, something resembling eternal life, while neglecting to wish for perpetual youth as well. Consequently, just like Sybil, the modern man is surviving day by day, knowing that nothing he does can change the manner of his disenchanted existence.
In a sense, this paragraph which is abundant with pessimistic paradoxes of logic such as flowers blossoming from barren soil or winter keeping someone warm, accentuates the darkly pessimistic tone of the poem, continuing in a somewhat bespoke dramatic monologue of people in desperate need to speak, but are disillusioned by their dead and barren surroundings. Consequently, the partial rhyme schemes, the disorderly composition of the poem and literally hundreds of allusions and references, in several foreign languages, make this work of literature almost incomprehensible without the poet’s notes. Still, the very beginning alludes to the overall theme and style: darkly pessimistic, disillusioned and in desperate need of human rebirth.
The poet believes the old saying that ignorance is bliss, and as long as one can bury oneself in memories, excessive suffering can be avoided. The world of Eliot’s Waste Land is one that is in limbo of neither life nor death, in a spell of being etherized to the point of numbness, where the mere arrival of spring has little power. It is within the human being itself that this change needs to happen, a profound change that will restore life, a cruel life that kills as well as reproduces, but a life worth living nonetheless.
Works Cited:
Eliot, Thomas Stearns. “The Waste Land.” n.d. Web. 11 May 2012. <http://www.bartleby.com/201/1.html>
