To Restore: Faith

There are a lot of references to evil and death in this poem, and it's about how something is not right in this land. “The Waste Land,” by T.S. Eliot, is about a devastation which needs to be cleaned and cleared by the sacred holy divine power of the ever illusive Holy Grail. The Holy Grail being refereed to as a salvation from this devastation, is what calls attention to the ever more sweet relief it contrasts to: the devastation. In the end, we're all looking forward to this all being healed and ended by the sweet revelation of hope and reason and understanding that there is way to bring peace to this land. Over the times of devastation, we also see pieces where there is uplifting hope and faith and inspiration for the glory that is: the holy grail: or at least something magic and healing in spirit: we can notice while reading that there are illusions to what he wants to find: such as with water over cracked earth and dry rock, or for a “murmur of maternal lamentation.” (T.S. Eliot, 1325). There are so many illusions to it, the music and the sound in high air, it's not even funny. We find even more where there is voice and moonlight: the beauty that is what holy light we wish to see despite all that is dark. “Tolling reminicient bells that kept the hours and voices singing out of the empty cisterns and exhausted wells.” (T.S. Eliot, 1326).

“Unreal City, under the brown fog of a winter dawn, A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, I had not thought death had undone so many.” Eliot notes that “so many” was in reference to the underworld, where we're seeing his further reference to the theme: that there is something that needs healing. It is unreal because it's foggy. I found that along this journey that T.S. Eliot takes us on, we're finding that there are all sorts of intriguing secrets in the texts like this one where he is referring to death or the horrors of the underworld in his notes. In “The Fire Sermon,” we definitely get an even stronger suggestion that there is mischief afoot, and it is relating to evil (as in the relation earlier to the underworld). He's speaking here of Buddha's sermon against “passions” such as “lust anger, and envy,” which are also known as sins. He also speaks of this rat running around, and it's somewhat symbolic of crime. I'm sure that we're witnessing his further emphasis on the broken land being that it is wrought in crimes and he then further emphasizes more about death. “Musing upon the king my brother's wreck And on the king my father's death before him.” (T.S. Eliot, 1321).

In the end, we're faced with even more of the imagery of the “ruins,” where he states “These fragments I have shored against my ruins why then Ile fit you Hieronymo's mad againe. Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata.Shantih shanti shanti.” T.S. Eliot ends his whole piece with this wishing for piece, however, just before this... there is an ever more interesting quest: to understand what he is referencing to... and why. Throughout the poem, T.S. Eliot references many scenes from plays, biblical quotes and even more intriguingly, he's quoting writers/ speakers from several different languages including, Latin, Greek, French and German. It's interesting how he includes reference to Buddhism, the bible, and Greek mythology. What I think T.S. Eliot was trying to do, was to make us all see that there is so much more to tall of this devastation in this land with all of the scenery, we need spirit and faith. Overall, his ending peace chant is notion for peace and especially understanding (where this was in great need), and also prior, he notes this passage from a Spanish play where there is meaning of accommodation. The ultimate quest and search for the holy grail in a land that needs faith and hope and nourishment the most, measures up to an incredible demonstration on how much there is to see, know, and think when it comes to finding hope for restoration, and in faith, despite devastation and darkness.