Hello Beautiful People,
I am Riddhi Bhatt. And yes, today I am coming with something interesting. This thinking activity task about The Waste Land by T.S.Eliot. & assigned by Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad sir, Head of the English Department of Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavsinhji Bhavnagar University (MKBU).
First one is What are your views on the following image after reading 'The Waste Land'? Do you think that Eliot is regressive as compared to Nietzche's views? or Has Eliot achieved universality of thought by recalling mytho-historical answers to the contemporary malaise?. Then we see that What are your views regarding these comments? Is it true that giving free vent to the repressed 'primitive instinct' leads us to a happy and satisfied life? or do you agree with Eliot's view that 'salvation of man lies in the preservation of the cultural tradition'?. Last we see about allusions to the Indian thoughts in 'The Waste Land'. (Where, How and Why are the Indian thoughts referred to?). So let’s start....
Firstly, I want to present Main poem & also some interesting details about the poet. So you all are able to connect with this blog and my questions also. The Waste Land is a poem by T.S. Eliot. widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of Modern poetry.
Thomas Stearns Eliot (T.S. Eliot) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Considered one of the 20th century's major poets, he is a central figure in English-language Modernist poetry.The Waste Land is a poem by T. S. Eliot is widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry. Published in 1922, the 434-line poem first appeared in the United Kingdom in the October issue of Eliot's The Criterion and in the United States in the November issue of The Dial. It was published in book form in December 1922. Among its famous phrases are "April is the cruellest month", "I will show you fear in a handful of dust", and the mantra in the Sanskrit language "Shantih shantih shantih".
The Waste Land :
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
Bin gar keine Russin, stamm’ aus Litauen, echt deutsch.
And when we were children, staying at the arch-duke’s,
My cousin’s, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
In the mountains, there you feel free.
I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter………
So now we all get basic information about poem and poet.'The Waste Land' is the masterpiece of T.S.Eliot. Eliot describes the rotten state of human life in the 20th century. The waste Land is the land where nothing can be grown. The waste land is the Land of fertile, fruitless, and hollowness of human Beings in the Modern age. As we all know, the poem ' Modern Epic ' is divided into five parts. Each part juxtaposes fragments of various aspects and it is just like episodic events which seem like 'Story within Story.'
As per my understanding, I try to give answers to the questions which are mentioned here.
T.S. Eliot and F. Nietzche
Frederic Nietzsche was a German philosopher who gave the term ' Übermensch', which means superhuman, a human being with remarkable abilities. Say for example Mahavira swami who was born in royal family and then left his home in pursuit of knowledge. He lived in the 5th-century BC contemporaneously with the Buddha. Both were normal human being and both have practiced intense meditation. Though they were not gods but were having superhuman qualities as compared to other humans. one became a leader in Jainism and another became leader in Buddhism but with passing of time they were considered as god. Eliot is regressive as compared to Nietzsche, he have used many myth in his poem waste land, there is nothing wrong in being regressive because people learns from past. If people have done something wrong in past they can recover or learns not to repeat same thing in present. Eliot gave an example of myth in the context of the present.
Friedrich Nietzsche is progressive and forward looking where as T. S. Eliot seems like regressive because both have totally different sights and beliefs. Friedrich has the idea of 'Superman' who believes in faith and Self only. Superman has quality that he only believes in this life rather than after the death of life. Means, he has no belief in any mysticism. Superhuman is the creator of own life and values. He has his own motifs and will power. He thinks that the self is more important than anything else and there is nothing beyond the self.According to me Nietzsche and T. S. Eliot both have different points of view. One believes in God and the other one believes in himself, Nietzsche is a very progressive and forward looking man and he doesn't believe in God. Nietzsche prefers 'self assurance'. While Eliot is quite different from Nietzsche, he is very regressive and has own point of view, he believes in god.
2) Prior to the speech, Gustaf Hellström of the Swedish Academy made these remarks:
What are your views regarding these comments? Is it true that giving free vent to the repressed 'primitive instinct' lead us to happy and satisfied life? or do you agree with Eliot's view that 'salvation of man lies in the preservation of the cultural tradition'?
Frued and Nietzsche both are the contemporaries but their background and field of working is different. Frued is believed in individuality and talks about "primitive instinct '' whereas Eliot believed in preservation of cultural traditions which means all together.Here I do not agree with the concept of Freud. Because giving free vent to the repressed primitive instinct will automatically lead towards the anarchy. For transitioning happiness we should not create disorganization in the society. Where as here Eliot seems more powerful than Freud because if we lived our lives with some discipline or with organization than life becomes more easier.Freud was wrote that for progress of any individual primitive instinct was needed but in order to preserve tradition Eliot says that there is need for to grew together, for that example of Buddha was perhaps suitable.
3) Write about allusions to the Indian thoughts in 'The Waste Land'. (Where, How and Why are the Indian thoughts referred to?)
There are many Indian thoughts in waste land. Eliot was a well read scholar and he includes Indian Upanishad also in his poems. Eliot also referred to Buddhism and Upanishad. IN this poem ‘The Waste Land’ T.S. Eliot has presented various & many cultures and languages to connect the world with one universal thought. There are fifth part in the poem & If we see the first four parts Eliot described how sexual perversion has overpower than spirituality of human and solution of spiritual degradation by referring to Indian culture and Upanishad.
Eliot uses all the Indian references because the situation of his country has become like barren land. Whereas these spiritual ideas of India seem more powerful and people also live the free life without any plunge. So we can say that to make his own land again fertile Eliot has used these ideas.
1) River Ganga and Himalya :
Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves
Waited for rain, while the black clouds
Gathered far distant, over Himavant.
By these Eliot refers to wisdom of India for spiritual salvation of modern humanity.
2) Eliot uses three DA :
- which he has taken from " Brihadaranyaka Upanishad"
DA
Datta: what have we given?
My friend, blood shaking my heart
The awful daring of a moment’s surrender
Which an age of prudence can never retract
By this, and this only, we have existed
Which is not to be found in our obituaries
Or in memories draped by the beneficent spider
Or under seals broken by the lean solicitor
In our empty rooms
DA
Dayadhvam: I have heard the key
Turn in the door once and turn once only
We think of the key, each in his prison
Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison
Only at nightfall, aethereal rumours
Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus
DA
Damyata: The boat responded
Gaily, to the hand expert with sail and oar
The sea was calm, your heart would have responded
Gaily, when invited, beating obedient
To controlling hands
Datta means to give; not only charity but giving oneself for some Noble cause.
Dayadhvam means to sympathies yourself with the sorrows and suffering from other
Damayanta means self control, control over one’s passions and desire ( sexual desire).
3)Shantih shantih shantih :
Shanti Mantras always end with the sacred syllable Om (Auṃ) and three utterances of the word "Shanti" which means "Peace".The Shanti Mantras or "Peace Mantras" or Pancha Shanti are Hindu prayers for Peace (Shanti) found in Upanishads. Generally they are recited at the beginning and end of religious rituals and discourses.Shanti Mantras are invoked in the beginning of some topics of Upanishads. They are supposed to calm the mind of the reciter and environment around him/her. Reciting them is also believed to be removing any obstacles for the task being started.
THANK YOU............
(WORDS : 1725)
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