MCorte - T.S.Eliot's Output and Metaphysical Poetry - What The Thunder Said (exercises pag.559)

COMPREHENSION
>> The first theme, the journey of Christ's disciples to Emmaus, is reference in line 39. The second theme, the approach to the Chapel Perilous, is quoted in line 60. The third theme, the decay of Eastern Europe and culture, is quoted in line 46, with the reference to "A Glimpse into Chaos"
>>
• No water but only rock
• Mountains of rock
• Not the cicada and dry grass
• Dry sterile thunder without rain
• Dry bones

INTERPRETATION
>> The Thunder's advice is the reference to the egoistical nature of modern humanity. Humans lost compassion and so they have also lost ability to communicate. Human nature is condemned to isolation and decaying of culture.
>> These fragments are the sequence of images and references used by Eliot in the poem: they refers to the metaphors, to the quotations and the Thunder's final advice
>> After showing decay of humanity, the final part can be interpretated as a last hope of peace and regenerating. Sanskrit is the old language, where the modern languages come from. It is a reference to the past of the humanity: this also reminds of myths and Eliot's interest for anthropology
>> Eliot's text are quite difficult texts and they are not easy to understand. Reading notes is very helpful most at all to understand the interpretations of Eliot's phrases and also the quotations and their functions in the text. Even the language used by Eliot is not immediately comprehensible, full of quotations and also methaphores. In such cases, reading quotations is very helpful
>> In Eliot's poetry obscurity is caused by the connection of different images. These images are symbolical and apparently they have no link among them. Moreover Eliot inserts in the text quotations, expressing the main sense of the opera. The reader has to catch the meaning of the images used by Eliot and find how they are connected