The Waste Land

As part of our course, we read T.S. Eliot. He was an American poet who later changed his nationality to British. He as many others experienced war in an England which was very involved in it. After reading Eliot’s poem “The Waste Land”, I felt quiet shocked and confused.

Shocked simply because it is amazing to see in one poem how the war affected people’s lives specially in Europe. Here we understand the concept of existentialism. After the war, people were left with a feeling of nothingness. There was nothing in their hands to change their lives or society: all decisions were made by others.

I felt confused because Eliot presented a new way of writing. The sudden change of settings and narrators makes the poem very confusing, but, at the same time, a very rich one. During the different stanzas we can see that the settings are constantly changing. For example, in the first stanza, he begins in spring and unpredictably changes to summer.

Another feature present in the poem in the incorporation of other languages because he includes most of European people and countries in the concept of the waste land. Therefore, using different languages makes us understand the point he was trying to make.

I am now left with a feeling of lack of understanding. There is definitely much more to understand in this poem and I have not been able to get it. I guess, I need to work more with this poem, so that I finally understand it.