The aim of the present essay is to provide an analysis of a section drawn from The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot.

The text is preceded by a quotation written in two different languages: Latin and Greek. It refers to the religious code and mentions mythological figures and priestesses. Moreover, the quotation is a clue to identify the ideal reader because he or she is supposed to know Latin, Greek and also English in order to understand the entire poem.

The quotation is followed by a dedication to Ezra Pound defined as “il miglior fabbro”. It is interesting to highlight that the same expression was also used by Dante Alighieri in his poem La Divina Commedia, referring to Guido Guinizzelli and with the aim to recognise his greatness.

The first section is titled The Burial of the dead. It suggests a melancholic and sad atmosphere because the main topic is the death. Moreover, the number one near the title anticipates that there will be additional sections.

The first line starts saying that April is the cruellest month; this sentence is unexpected because this month is usually associated with the regeneration of nature and start of spring. It is possible to identify a reference to Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales who wrote about April as the sweetest month, which is usually how most people perceive this month of the year. Therefore, the intelligent reader can identify an overturning message returning back to roots.

In the sentence where April is defined as the cruellest month, it is important to underline also the use of the superlative adjective that reinforces the message, because while nature is reborning, also people are waiting for a rebirth, but it does not always happen. There is also an interesting reference to Lilacs which shows a pessimistic way to refer to the blooming of flowers, this is because Lilacs are the typical flowers of death because they grow up from dead land.

 To sum up, the poet defined April as the cruellest month because this months is not only about reborning but might also mislead people’s, giving them false hopes that good things would happen.