Thursday, April 1, 2010

April is the cruellest month!!!

April is the cruellest month, breedingLilacs out of the dead land, mixingMemory and desire, stirringDull roots with spring rain,--T S EliotI never knew an alt gory interpretation of Wasteland as in here(on the net):

"The poet asks his friend if the “corpse you planted last year in your garden” has “begun to sprout?” Here again Eliot is invoking the idea of resurrection, and of the natural cycle of death and life. First, when dead people decompose, their organic matter fertilizes the ground, which loops back to the first line of the section, in which April, “the cruellest month,” is breeding flowers, which presumably are feeding off this decomposed flesh. But in a more specific way, this passage refers to Frazer’s book, which details a primitive ritual whereby in April these primitive civilizations would plant a male corpse, or just the man’s genitals, in order to ensure a bountiful harvest. This harvest, which can be interpreted symbolically as the rebirth of civilization, is potentially threatened by “the Dog,” which has been interpreted as the lack of meaning in life."

1 comment:

The Literary Jewels said...

I have always found this line "April is the cruellest month" a very thought provoking one.
A nice post...thanks for sharing.