THE WASTE LAND – T.S. ELIOT POINTS TO PONDER

THE WASTE LAND – T.S. ELIOT POINTS TO PONDER:

v  What Eliot poem contains the popular song  of

“ O O O O that Shakespeherian Rag—

It’s so elegant

So intelligent”

Answer: A Game of Chess (The Waste Land)

v     How many of works did Eliot make a reference to in The Waste Land? Goldsmith’s The Vicar of Wakefield , Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy and Spenser’s Prothalamion

v     Eliot stated that his reference to certain vegetation ceremonies were influences that came from which book? The Golden Bough.

v     Before it was deleted, the line “Get me a woman, I said; you’re too drunk, she said” was part of which section of the poem? Burial of the dead.

v     What are the cities mentioned in the poem? Alexandria, Vienna and Carthage.

v     There are many quotations in different languages throughout the poem. What are the languages used in the poem? Greek, German, Italian.

v     The line, “The ivory men make company between us” which was deleted from the final version of the poem from the second section “ A Game of Chess” was taken out at whose suggestion? Vivien Eliot’s.

v     Where were the original (first intended) epigraph that Eliot had chosen for the poem from? Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

v     Who helped Eliot to edit the poem? Ezra Pound.

v     What was Eliot’s first working title for The Waste Land? He do the Police in Different Voices.

v     In ‘What the Thunder Said’ a fragment of a children’s rhyme is mentioned. Which rhyme? London Bridge is Falling Down.

v     The section of the poem ‘The Fire Sermon’ takes its name from an important text in which religion? Buddhism.

v     Eliot mentions a Queen of England and her lover, Leicester, in ‘The Fire Sermon’. Which Queen is this? Elizabeth I.

v     Which mythological character, referred to in the poem, became a nightingale when she was raped and her tongue cut out? Philomel.

v     There are also lots of classical allusions in the poem. What is the name of the character who is both male and female? Tiresias.

v     There are a lot of Shakespearean allusions in the poem, including the line, “Good night ladies, good night sweet ladies”. Which Shakespearean play is this taken from?Hamlet.

v     The passage in ‘What the Thunder Said’ that begins “who is the third who walks always beside you?” was inspired by which event, according to Eliot in his notes? An account of an explorer’s expedition in Antartica.

v     The opening line of the poem, “April is the cruelest month”, is an allusion to a quote from which English poet? Geoffrey Chaucer.

v     The poem is dedicated to which poet and friend of T.S. Eliot? Ezra Pound.

v     Who is “known to be the wisest woman in Europe/ With a wicked pack of cards”? Madame Sosostris.

v     In what city is Queen Victoria Street in the poem? London.

v     Translate “Oed und leer das Meer”.  Desolate and empty is the sea.

v     Who rapes Philomela? Tereus.

v     When lovely woman stoops to folly” is an allusion to? Oliver Goldsmith’s The Vicar of Wakefield.

v     The narrator is told that he should fear death by? Water.

v     Who is “throbbing between two lives”? Tiresias.

v     Mr. Eugenides invites the Narrator to? The Cannon Street Hotel.

v     Who is Mr. Eugenides? Merchant.

v     The clairvoyant is named as ? Madame Sosostris.

v     The opening section of The Waste Land is entitled? The Burial of the Dead.

v     Who visits the typist? The young man carbuncular.

v     Who witnesses the visit? Tiresias.

v     Magnus Martyr is ? church.

v     What battle did Stetson supposedly participate in? Mylae.

v     Demobbed means? Released from the army.

v     Who is demobbed? Lil’s husband.

v     Where is the Stambergersee? Near Munich.

v     How many parts does the Waste Land is split into? Five.

v     To whom does the Budha preach? Sermon.

v     Phlebas, the Phoenician appears in? Death by Water.

v     Who is the narrator of the poem? T. S. Eliot.

v     Lil’s husband Albert has been in the army for? five.

v     What is the meaning of the word ‘Datta’?  to give.

v     The Waste Land exposes Modern society’s?  Religious and spiritual bareness.

v     In the poem “Hofgarton” is a ? public park in Munich.

v     ‘Unreal city’ referred in the poem is? London.

v     The waste land is full of what? Similies.

v     ‘The river’s tent is broken, the last fingers of leaf’. The river in the above sentences is? Thames.

v     Who is Eliot’s spokesman in the poem? Tiresias.

v     When was The Waste Land published? 1922.

v     The title is said to have been suggested by? Miss Western’s book Ritual to Romance.

v     Which is the brief section in the poem? Death by Water.

v     ‘the chair she sat is like a burnished throne’ is a line in T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Landalluding to Shakespeare’s? Antony and Cleopatra.

v     ‘Why then Ile fit you’ is a line in the poem alluding to ? The Spanish Tragedy.

v     Tiresias is a well known character from? Greek Legend.

v     Who is blind? Tiresias.

v     The three fold message of Thunder – Da, da, da has been drawn from? Greek Legend.

v     The poem ends with the line? Shantih Shantih Shantih.

v     ‘Sweet Thames run softly till a end my song’ is a line in the poem alluding to ?Epithalamion.

v     The poem was written in? Free verse.

v     Phlebas was? Phoenician.

v     Phlebas was ? drowned in the sea.

v     The Indian river referred in the poem is? Ganges.

v     The poem first appears in the quarterly magazine? The criterion.

v     ‘Those are pearls that were his eyes’ is a line in the poem alluding to? The Tempest.

v     Madam Sosostris foretells that Tiresias will die in? Water.

v     Tiresias belonged to? Thebes.

v     The phrase ‘A wicked pack of cards’ reminds us a character in the poem? Tiresias.

v     ‘These fragments I have shared against my ruin’. These fragments refers to? The Waste Land.

v     The waste Land in a criticism of contemporary society like ? Scholar Gypsy

v     Who wash their feet in soda water? Mrs. Porter and her daughter.

v     Mrs. Porter and her daughter are engaged in? Brothel.

v     In the poem who is symbol of loose morals? Mrs. Porter.

v     In the poem, Eliot attacks? Sexual perversion.

v     Eliot uses myths to? Bring out the anarchy of the present.

v     The evil land of Emmaus is mentioned in? Ecclesiastes.

v     The poem earned T.S. Eliot a bigger award, what was that? Nobel Prize.

v     ‘Datta, Dayatiam, Damyata’ mean? Give, sympathize, control.