Barren land. Eliot D

The action takes place in England after the First World War. The poem is based on the myth of the search for the Holy Grail and the legend of the poor fisherman. The parts of the poem are fragmentary and do not form a unity.

The poem begins with an epigraph - the myth of the Sibyl. She wished herself eternal life, forgetting to wish for eternal youth: “Otherwise I saw the Cumaean Sibyl in a bottle. The children asked her: “Sibyl, what do you want?”, and she answered: “I want to die.”

Part I. Burial of the dead

The cruel month of April forces nature to awaken from winter sleep: flowers and trees grow from dead earth. It's raining in the city of Starnbergersee. Marie and her friend are sitting in a cafe and talking. Marie talks about how she went sledding in the mountains with her cousin.

In Part I, Sibyl turns into the fortune teller Madame Sosostris. She has a bad cold, but, nevertheless, she makes a prediction on the cards to the person who came to her. He must die from the water: “Here,” she says, “here is your card - a drowned man, a Phoenician sailor... / But I don’t see the Hanged Man. Your death is by water."

The image of London - a ghostly city where the war took place. The sailor calls out to Stetson's acquaintance and asks him whether the dead man who was buried in the garden a year ago has sprouted: “Will he flourish this year - / Or perhaps an unexpected frost has struck his bed?” The sailor receives no answer.

Part II. Game of chess

The couple plays chess in complete silence, waiting for a knock on the door. They have nothing to talk about with each other. The room is described: an aquarium without fish, a painting depicting the transformation of Philomela into a nightingale, scolded by the rapist king. Finally, Lil’s acquaintance comes in, and the hostess advises her that before her husband Albert arrives from the front, she should put herself in order and put her jaw back in place, otherwise he will leave for someone else:

Lil, take everything out and make plug-ins.
He said: I can’t look at you.
And I can't, I say, think about Albert,
He wasted three years in the trenches, he wants to live,
If not with you, there will be others.

Lil is 31 years old, she gave birth to five children, and in last time was near death. Albert returns on Sunday.

Part III. Fire sermon.

At night, a fisherman fishes from the bank of the Thames. He thinks about King Tireus, who dishonored Philomela.

Mr. Eugenides - the "one-eyed merchant" from Madame Sozostris' fortune telling - invites a man to the Cannon Street Hotel.

In this part of the poem, the Sibyl is the female hypostasis of the blind soothsayer Tiresias: “I, Tiresias, am a prophet trembling between the sexes / A blind old man with a wrinkled female breasts. / In the purple hour, I see how people / Having finished with their affairs, are drawn to their houses...” Tiresias predicts the meeting between the typist and the sailor: he caresses her, she dispassionately endures his caresses. When the sailor leaves, the typist sighs with relief and turns on the gramophone. The typist recalls the facts of her biography. She was subjected to debauchery in Richmond, in Moorgate, on Moorgate beach.

The third part ends with a call to God to free the burning man from asceticism.

Thomas Stearns Eliot

« barren land»

Summary

Part I. Burial of the dead

The cruel month of April forces nature to awaken from its winter sleep: flowers and trees grow from the dead earth. It's raining in the city of Starnbergersee. Marie and her friend are sitting in a cafe and talking. Marie talks about how she went sledding in the mountains with her cousin.

In Part I, Sibyl turns into the fortune teller Madame Sosostris. She has a bad cold, but, nevertheless, she makes a prediction on the cards to the person who came to her. He must die from the water: “Here,” she says, “here is your map - a drowned man, a Phoenician sailor... / But I don’t see the Hanged Man. Your death is by water."

Part II. Game of chess

Lil, take everything out and make plug-ins.
He said: I can’t look at you.
And I can't, I say, think about Albert,
He wasted three years in the trenches, he wants to live,
If not with you, there will be others.

Lil was 31 years old, had given birth to five children, and was last close to death. Albert returns on Sunday.

Part III. Fire Sermon

At night, a fisherman fishes from the bank of the Thames. He thinks about King Tireus, who dishonored Philomela.

Mr. Eugenides - the "one-eyed merchant" from Madame Sozostris' fortune telling - invites a man to the Cannon Street Hotel.

In this part of the poem, the Sibyl is the female form of the blind soothsayer Tiresias:

I, Tiresias, the prophet trembling between the floors
A blind old man with shriveled female breasts.
In the purple hour I see how things are going
Having finished, people are drawn to the houses...

Tiresias predicts the meeting between the typist and the sailor: he caresses her, she dispassionately endures his caresses. When the sailor leaves, the typist sighs with relief and turns on the gramophone. The typist recalls the facts of her biography. She was subjected to debauchery in Richmond, in Moorgate, on Moorgate beach.

The third part ends with a call to God to free the burning man from asceticism.

Part IV. Death by water

Phlebus the Phoenician dies in the water after two weeks. His body is gnawed by the sea current. The author calls on everyone to honor the deceased Phlebus: “Remember Phlebus: he was full of strength and beauty.”

Part V What did the thunder say

The last part of the poem begins with a description of a barren land: thunderclaps in the dead mountains, there is no water here, only rocks, stones, sand underfoot, dry grass, cracks in the soil.

Someone else is walking next to the two heroes across the barren land. But they don't know him, they don't see his face. They hear thunder in the purple sky, see an incomprehensible city over the mountains, pass Jerusalem, Athens, and ghostly London. They see an empty chapel with broken windows and a cemetery in a crevice of rocks:

In this putrid depression between the mountains
The grass sings in the weak moonlight
To the drooping graves near the chapel -
This is an empty chapel, the home of the wind,
The windows are broken, the door is shaking.
And only here the grass grows and the rain begins.

And then the thunder says: “Yes. What have we given? - the blood of Jesus Christ, “the blood of a trembling heart”, which no one will find. But many are looking for it, considering the blood of Jesus the key to life.

The poem ends with the fisherman sitting by the canal, fishing and wondering if he will restore order to his lands and the fact that London Bridge is collapsing. Retold Lydia Patrusheva

The film describes the actions after the First World War in England. It is based on the myth of the Holy Grail and the legend of the poor fisherman. The parts of this poem have no connection with each other, being fragmentary. The poem itself is written based on the myth of the Holy Grail. The story begins with the myth of the Sibyl, how she, being immortal, forgot to wish eternal youth, and in the end, living for centuries in the body of an old woman, she had one thing on her mind - how to die.

Part I. Burial of the dead

It's spring outside. Nature wakes up after hibernation and the rains begin. Miri and a friend hid from the rain by sitting in a cafe in the small town of Starnbergez. While drinking hot coffee, the girl talks about her vacation with her cousin.

The Sibyl in Part I turns into Sozostris. Being sick, she still tells fortunes with cards to a man who comes to see her. The cards say he will die from water.

Part II. Game of chess

The couple decided to while away the wait for the guests by playing chess. The game passes in silence, they cannot find a topic for conversation. There is a knock and Lil enters the room. She must get herself in order before her husband returns from the front.

Part III. Fire Sermon

Night. Thames. A fisherman sat down on the shore. His thoughts are about King Tireus, who deprived Philomela of his honor.

Here the fortune teller Sibyl plays the role of the soothsayer Tiresias.

Part IV. Death by water

Part V What did the thunder say

The final part tells about a barren land on which no water flows, underfoot there is only sand, dried grass, cracks in the ground, and around there are only mountains and thunder.

Three people walk across the barren land: two friends and one unknown person whom the heroes do not know and cannot see his face. The sounds of thunder are heard, an incomprehensible city comes into their field of vision, they pass Athens, Jerusalem, London.

And thunder says to them: “Yes. What have we given? - the blood of Jesus Christ, “the blood of a trembling heart.”

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Eliot D.. The Waste Land.
The action takes place in England after the First World War. The poem is based on the myth of the search for the Holy Grail and the legend of the poor fisherman. The parts of the poem are fragmentary and do not form a unity.
The poem begins with an epigraph - the myth of the Sibyl. She wished herself eternal life, forgetting to wish for eternal youth: “And then I also saw the Kuma Sibyl in a bottle. The children asked her: “Sibyl, what do you want?”, and she answered: “I want to die.”
Part I. Burial of the dead
The cruel month of April forces nature to awaken from its winter sleep: flowers and trees grow from the dead earth. It's raining in the city of Starnbergersee. Marie and her friend are sitting in a cafe and talking. Marie talks about how she went sledding in the mountains with her cousin.
The author calls the son of man to come where the dead tree does not provide shade. He promises to show fear - a handful of dust.
In Part I, Sibyl turns into the fortune teller Madame Sosostris. She has a bad cold, but, nevertheless, she makes a prediction on the cards to the person who came to her. He must die from the water: “Here,” she says, “here is your card - a drowned man, a Phoenician sailor. But I don’t see the Hanged Man. Your death is from water.”
The image of London - a ghostly city where the war took place. The sailor calls out to Stetson's acquaintance and asks him whether the dead man who was buried in the garden a year ago has sprouted: "Will he flourish this year - Or perhaps an unexpected frost has struck his bed?" The sailor receives no answer.
Part II. Game of chess
The couple plays chess in complete silence, waiting for a knock on the door. They have nothing to talk about with each other. The room is described: an aquarium without fish, a painting depicting the transformation of Philomela into a nightingale, scolded by the rapist king. Finally, Lil’s acquaintance comes in, and the hostess advises her that before her husband Albert arrives from the front, she should put herself in order and put her jaw back in place, otherwise he will leave for someone else:
Lil, take everything out and make plug-ins.
He said: I can’t look at you.
And I can't, I say, think about Albert,
He wasted three years in the trenches, he wants to live,
If not with you, there will be others.
Lil was 31 years old, had given birth to five children, and was last close to death. Albert returns on Sunday.
Part III. Fire sermon.
At night, a fisherman fishes from the bank of the Thames. He thinks about King Tireus, who dishonored Philomela.
Mr. Eugenides - the "one-eyed merchant" from Madame Sozostris' fortune telling - invites a man to the Cannon Street Hotel.
In this part of the poem, the Sibyl is the female hypostasis of the blind soothsayer Tiresias: “I, Tiresias, am a prophet, trembling between the sexes, a blind old man with a wrinkled female breast. In the purple hour, I see how, having finished with affairs, people are drawn to houses.” Tiresias predicts the meeting between the typist and the sailor: he caresses her, she dispassionately endures his caresses. When the sailor leaves, the typist sighs with relief and turns on the gramophone. The typist recalls the facts of her biography. She was subjected to debauchery in Richmond, in Moorgate, on Moorgate beach. The third part ends with a call to God to free the burning man from asceticism. Part IV. Death by water. Phlebus the Phoenician dies in the water after two weeks. His body is gnawed by the sea current. The author calls on everyone to honor the deceased Phlebus: “Remember Phlebus: he was full of strength and beauty.” Part V What did the thunder say? The last part of the poem begins with a description of the barren land: thunderclaps in dead mountains, there is no water here, only rocks, stones, sand underfoot, dry grass, cracks in the soil. Someone else is walking next to the two heroes across the barren land. But they don't know him, they don't see his face. They hear thunder in the purple sky, see an incomprehensible city over the mountains, pass Jerusalem, Athens, and ghostly London. They see in a crevice of rocks an empty chapel with broken windows and a cemetery: In this putrefactive depression between the mountains, the grass sings in the weak moonlight to the drooping graves near the chapel - This is an empty chapel, a dwelling of the wind, The windows are broken, the door is swinging. And only here the grass grows and the rain begins. And then the thunder says: “Yes. What have we given?” - the blood of Jesus Christ, “the blood of a trembling heart,” which no one will find. But many are looking for it, considering the blood of Jesus the key to life. The poem ends with the fisherman sitting by the canal, fishing and wondering if he will restore order to his lands and the fact that London Bridge is collapsing.

Part I. Burial of the dead

Part II. Game of chess

Lil, take everything out and make plug-ins.
He said: I can’t look at you.
And I can't, I say, think about Albert,
He wasted three years in the trenches, he wants to live,
If not with you, there will be others.

Lil was 31 years old, had given birth to five children, and was last close to death. Albert returns on Sunday.

Part III. Fire Sermon

At night, a fisherman fishes from the bank of the Thames. He thinks about King Tireus, who dishonored Philomela.

Mr. Eugenides - the "one-eyed merchant" from Madame Sozostris' fortune telling - invites a man to the Cannon Street Hotel.

In this part of the poem, the Sibyl is the female form of the blind soothsayer Tiresias:

I, Tiresias, the prophet trembling between the floors
A blind old man with shriveled female breasts.
In the purple hour I see how things are going
Having finished, people are drawn to the houses...

The third part ends with a call to God to free the burning man from asceticism.

Part IV. Death by water

Part V What did the thunder say

The last part of the poem begins with a description of a barren land: thunderclaps in the dead mountains, there is no water here, only rocks, stones, sand underfoot, dry grass, cracks in the soil.

In this putrid depression between the mountains
The grass sings in the weak moonlight
To the drooping graves near the chapel -
This is an empty chapel, the home of the wind,
The windows are broken, the door is shaking.
And only here the grass grows and the rain begins.

And then the thunder says: “Yes. What have we given? - the blood of Jesus Christ, “the blood of a trembling heart,” which no one will find. But many are looking for it, considering the blood of Jesus the key to life.

The poem ends with the fisherman sitting by the canal, fishing and wondering if he will restore order to his lands and the fact that London Bridge is collapsing.

Retold by Lydia Patrusheva.

American-English poet, playwright and literary critic, representative of modernism in poetry.

Was born September 26 1888 in St. Louis (Missouri, USA) in a wealthy family whose ancestors came from England.

Having finished private school, Thomas Eliot 1906 joined Harvard University. He began writing his first poems under the influence of Omar Khayyam at the age of 14. Fascinated by the poetry of the Symbolists, he came to Paris, where he continued his studies at the Sorbonne.

Returning to America in 1911, he began work on a dissertation on Bradley’s work, without finishing it he moved first to Germany, and then in 1915 to London.

In 1915 he married ballerina Vivienne Haywood, but it soon became clear that she was suffering from a mental disorder.

From 1917 to 1919 Mr. Eliot works as deputy editor-in-chief of the magazine "Egoist" and publishes his own poems in various periodicals, and also publishes several poetry collections. Thomas Eliot's first major poem was The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. This was a new milestone in the poetry of the 20th century, a round of modern English poetry.

Thomas Eliot becomes a popular poet, serious literary critic. His critical essays begin the so-called “Cambridge school of criticism.”

1922 was published, according to critics, best work Eliot, which reflected the intellectual sentiments an entire era, - poem “The Waste Land”.

In 1927 Eliot converted to Anglicanism and became a British citizen. His thoughts about religion were reflected in the poem “Ash Wednesday” (1930), which was written in more traditional style than his earlier works.

In 1932 after a twenty-year break he visited America. IN 1934divorced his wife.

1934 Eliot wrote poetic drama“The Stone”, and in 1935 - the drama “Murder in the Cathedral”, staged at the same time in Canterbury Cathedral. His plays are about modern life- “Family Reunion” (1939), “Cocktail Party” (1950) and others are considered less successful.

1940 Thomas Eliot writes the poem “East Cocker”, then it is published in a row poetic works which are considered the most mature.

In 1948 Eliot was awarded Nobel Prize in literature “for priority innovation in the formation modern poetry" In 1948 he was awarded the British Order of Merit, in 1954 - the French Legion of Honor and the German Goethe Prize of the Hanseatic League.

From 1952 until his death he was president of the London Library.

In 1957, at the age of 68, he married his former secretary Valerie Fletcher.

Died January 4, 1965 in London at the age of 76 and buried in Westminster Abbey.