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Rahel Hartman

Cosmin Ritivoiu

English 102

1 March 2015

The Unrest of the Modern Era

The poem The Wasteland was written by T.S. Eliot. Eliot lived from 1888 until 1965 in

the modern historical era. This poem is an illustration of what many people experienced in the

modern historical era, which started around 1946 (Modern Era (1946 - Present)). There were

many changes during that time including the industrial revolution. The following is a short

summary of the modern era by the British Museum:

These developments and the constant fall in the costs of production led to

unprecedented prosperity, and made those countries in Europe and North America

that pioneered the growth, immensely powerful. The competition that this caused

between them led to a colonization of much of the rest of the world by the late

nineteenth century. In the twentieth century it resulted in two World Wars of

appalling destructiveness. (Modern Era)

This era was not a peaceful time and Eliot's poem is a good portrayal of the unrest the occurred

during those years.

Upon first consideration, it can be seen that the narrator uses nature in many instances.

He definitely uses very descriptive language to paint a picture in the mind of the reader. Very

detailed language was used to describe the "rock", "garden", "mountain", and "thunder" making

them seem very real to the reader.

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Another aspect that is apparent on first glance is that the poem is very gloomy and sad.

The Wasteland is not written in a cheerful and optimistic style, on the contrary, is it morbid and

pessimistic. This can be observed in the generous usage of terms with negative connotations. For

example, in the second and third lines of the fifth verse it says: "After the frosty silence in the

gardens / After the agony in stony places" (323-324). The narrator has used the words silence and

agony, giving the poem a harsh atmosphere. The situation being presenting is not a friendly and

welcoming one.

The words that are most noticeable in the beginning of the fifth verse are "water" and

"rock". Throughout, the words "stony," "rock", and "mountains" are used multiple times giving

the reader a cold and hard feeling. The narrator also uses the words "water", "sweat", "drink",

"rain", all words with relation to moisture. Both "water" and "rock" could have cheery and bright

connotations, but in the context of Eliot's poem they are used in a depressing way.

Also contributing to the depressing theme, Eliot uses a seemingly irregular style in his

poem. The rhythm in the poem varies slightly but seems to be mainly regular. Interestingly, the

uneven rhythm and line length does not distract from the meaning of the poem. He also repeats

the key words making their meaning more fully understood. There is no punctuation used in the

first part of the fifth verse which gives the poem a more connected and flowing feel. Overall the

style in the poem is nonuniform which contributes to the unrestful situation that the poem is

portraying.

In the fifth verse of The Wasteland there is a similarity to the story of water from the rock

in Genesis chapter seventeen. For example in Genesis it says: "All the congregation of the people

of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the

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Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink" (Genesis 17:1).

This could easily be paralleled to the lines: "Rock and no water and the sandy road / The road

winding above among the mountains" (332-333). In both situations they are wandering without

water. Continuing Genesis says the following:

Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water to drink.

And Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the

Lord? But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against

Moses and said, Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our

children and our livestock with thirst? (Genesis 17:2-4)

In both the Israelites' story and The Wasteland people are searching for water which they do not

have. Furthermore, they are both facing death from possible dehydration.

The experience of the people in the modern historical era is quite similar. People were

searching for peace in the world around them. They wanted something to satisfy but they could

not find that for which they were searching. This is the result of a world without God's blessed

peace. The Israelites are an example of life without God's peace they were afraid of dying and

complaining about the lack of water. The Bible speaks about this God-given peace and says:

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your

minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7). When individuals do not have the peace that comes only

from God they continue through life looking for something to satisfy their need. In the poem The

Wasteland this desperate unrest can be seen.

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The poem The Wasteland is a very descriptive poem of the modern historical era. The

diction and style presented illustrates that without God people cannot have satisfaction in life,

and that people need God's perfect peace in their lives to be satisfied.

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Works Cited

BibleGateway. Exodus 17. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015. .

Eliot, T. S. 1922. The Waste Land. Eliot, T. S. 1922. The Waste Land. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb.

2015. .

Modern Era. Explore / World Cultures. The British Museum, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2015. .

Modern Era (1946 - Present). Modern Era. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015. .

Rapids, Mich. NASB Compact Reference Bible: New American Standard Bible. Grand Rapids,

Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House, 2000. Print.