T.S Eliot Quote

[Dark Muse]

I stumbled upon this quote and was just currious on any thoughts as to what it means.

I will show you fear in a handful of dust
T.S.Eliot, The Waste Land

[Virgil]

It's hard to pull out of context, but it suggests the death we all face and God's judgement. Here's the section from the poem:

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

Notice the biblical diction. The voice has always struck me as God talking.

[Dark Muse]

Ahh yes I can see now

[Ductape]

In addition, "Son of man" is a reference to the Christ. Nearly half the books of the New Testament refer to Jesus as the 'son of man' while the others refer to him as the 'son of god'.

Jesus also refers to himself as the 'son of man' rather than claiming the title of 'son of god'. He seems to stress this at some point, and though i have pulled out my bible to find it, i guess I'm not that eager to prove my point. If you look in either Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John it will be there.

[Rav Maji]

Read the passage thirty times. What you feel is what it means.

[quasimodo1]

La Figlia Che Piange

O quam te memorem Virgo ...


Stand on the highest pavement of the stair--
Lean on a garden urn--
Weave, weave the sunlight in your hair--
Clasp your flowers to you with a pained surprise--
Fling them to the ground and turn
With a fugitive resentment in your eyes:
But weave, weave the sunlight in your hair.

So I would have had him leave,
So I would have had her stand and grieve,
So he would have left
As the soul leaves the body torn and bruised,
As the mind deserts the body it has used.
I should find
Some way incomparably light and deft,
Some way we both should understand,
Simple and faithless as a smile and shake of the hand. {excerpt}{La Figlia Che Piange, The Weeping Girl}

[stlukesguild]

Quasi... it's been a while since I read Prufrock and other Poems... and I almost forgot just how beautiful... how powerful T.S. Eliot can be. It's easy to forget that in light of his criticism and the "myth" that grew up around him and The Wasteland. Thanks for the reminder...

[stlukesguild]

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

The metaphor of the Wasteland certainly relates to the destruction of the First World War... but even more importantly it relates to modern man's lost of a sense of connectedness with his "roots"... with his artistic/cultural... and importantly for Eliot, his religious heritage. "You know only a heap of broken images..." for art/paintings/sculptures... literature as well is nothing but a "broken" meaningless image without any connectedness to its greater meanings. I agree that the diction and the symbols are quite Biblical. The dead tree rather than the tree of life? The absence of water... the water of life... water that is such a Biblical symbol of life and rejuvenation and purity. Of course the "handful of dust" seemingly alludes to the very element from which mankind, according to Biblical narrative, was created. I balk at any simple notion of a single interpretation or "meaning" being inscribed to this, or any strong poem... but certainly an understanding of the symbols that Eliot is alluding to brings a deeper "understanding"... and I would assume that a lack of knowledge of those symbols/allusions from Western cultural history are the very thing that the Wasteland sings of in elegy.

[quasimodo1]

To Stlukesguild et all: Eliot, it's sad to say, is forced on students in college and many must think that Prufrock, Wasteland and the feline play is all there is. Of course there's also the ethnic bashing which is problematic. Despite this, his poetry (and there is some upscale prose too) still shines for many and even remains as a kind of quality control template. No offense, Eliot lovers.

[Virgil]

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

The metaphor of the Wasteland certainly relates to the destruction of the First World War... but even more importantly it relates to modern man's lost of a sense of connectedness with his "roots"... with his artistic/cultural... and importantly for Eliot, his religious heritage. "You know only a heap of broken images..." for art/paintings/sculptures... literature as well is nothing but a "broken" meaningless image without any connectedness to its greater meanings. I agree that the diction and the symbols are quite Biblical. The dead tree rather than the tree of life? The absence of water... the water of life... water that is such a Biblical symbol of life and rejuvenation and purity. Of course the "handful of dust" seemingly alludes to the very element from which mankind, according to Biblical narrative, was created. I balk at any simple notion of a single interpretation or "meaning" being inscribed to this, or any strong poem... but certainly an understanding of the symbols that Eliot is alluding to brings a deeper "understanding"... and I would assume that a lack of knowledge of those symbols/allusions from Western cultural history are the very thing that the Wasteland sings of in elegy.

StLukes you just reminded me why I love that poem so much and why I love Eliot. Intellectually he's my father.

[quasimodo1]

T.S.Eliot fan test: Do you ever find yourself mumbling "The women come and go, speaking of Michelangelo..."?

[Virgil]

T.S.Eliot fan test: Do you ever find yourself mumbling "The women come and go, speaking of Michelangelo..."?

I do, I do!! That and "I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled."

[quasimodo1]

Allrighty then, knew I wasn't the only one.

[quasimodo1]

And Virgil, this quote is a mantra as well... Gerontion by T. S. Eliot
Thou hast nor youth nor age
But as it were an after dinner sleep
Dreaming of both.


HERE I am, an old man in a dry month,
Being read to by a boy, waiting for rain.
I was neither at the hot gates
Nor fought in the warm rain

[Virgil]

And Virgil, this quote is a mantra as well... Gerontion by T. S. Eliot
Thou hast nor youth nor age
But as it were an after dinner sleep
Dreaming of both.


HERE I am, an old man in a dry month,
Being read to by a boy, waiting for rain.
I was neither at the hot gates
Nor fought in the warm rain

Yes, though that one doesn't come to me on the fly. As I'm getting to be an old man, I'll have to drill it into me.