ANALYSIS OF THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD BY T.S. ELIOT

The text I’m supposed to analyse is an extract of The Burial Of The Dead by T.S. Eliot.

Right from the title the reader may expect the poem to be about death. In addition the word “burial” recalls the idea of the death. So, the title seems to be built up thanks to the semantic field of the dead.

Just considering the structure of the poem, it is arranged into two stanzas.

The poem proper begins with a description of the seasons. April emerges as the “cruellest” month, passing over a desolate land. Immediately, there’s a opposition between April and winter. Indeed, April seems to stand for the revitalization of nature, the modern man, empty and without purpose, he feels even more painful its inner sterility. After spring and winter Eliots stops on more specific memories: a rain shower by the Starnbergersee; a lake outside Munich; coffee in that city’s Hofgarten; sledding with a cousin in the days of childhood.

So, according to the structure and to its syntax, the poem seems to be a dramatic monologue, that is a literary form in which a character, addressing a silent auditor reveals himself or herself and the his or hers dramatic thoughts. Moreover, in the text the speaking voice’s thoughts seem to proceed in a very confused way. It seems as the poem is built up using the technique of the stream of consciousness. So, also the use of long vowel sounds ( “o” at the lines 3 – 4 ) add a more deep dimension to the text, letting the reader come into touch to the speaking voice’s thoughts. The memory closes with her friend's statement about not being Russian.  These lines keep all Eliot’s personal writing style. Indeed you can notice a high density of devices such as fragmentation and juxtapositions. What's more, the contrast between winter and summer is underlined by the images of the "forgetful snow" and "sunlight"

In addition, the typical happiness due to summer thoughts be underlined by the syntax. Indeed, with a use of very short sentences the poet recalls the liveliness of life in summer,  and also by the alliteration "summer - surprised".

After there is a flashback that takes us back to the climate of Central Europe around World War I, with a clear mention to the Russian Revolution .

The second stanza thanks to the use of the same semantic field of the very first lines, returns to the tone of the overture, describing a land of “stony rubbish” arid, sterile, quite simply the “waste land” of the poem’s title. Eliot quotes Ezekiel 2.1 and Ecclesiastes 12.5, using biblical language to construct a sort of dialogue between the narrator (the “son of man”) and a higher power. The speaking voice is desperately searching for some sign of life “roots that clutch,” branches that grow but all he can find are dry stones, dead trees, and “a heap of broken images.” The picture here conveys a strong sense of desolation, maybe a metaphorical image of the poet status. This is also underlined by the alliteration "stone - sound" underlining the impossibility of life upon the "dead land" and the language appealing to hearing ( "the cricket no relief", " no sound of water") highlights the theme of death. So, language used in this text appeals different times to sense. It is the language of sense impression occuring in the speaking voice’s thoughts.