The Wasteland Sec. 4 Explication

            Humans are composed of a number of elements. Oxygen is the number one ingredient, but carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen also help compose a body. All of these items can be purchased easily and for less than $200 for an 80 kilogram body. All the physical somehow comes together to create the mental aspect. The secret to that process is unknown, but has been a curiosity to humans for centuries, from alchemist in the sixteenth century to modern-day scientists. The flip side of that question is, what happens to the person after death?

            In section four, Death by Water, of The Wasteland by TS Eliot the ten lines describe a scene where a body decomposes. As the man disintegrates, the parallels between his life and death process become clear. The section depicts the loss of any real personality or meaning, not in death, but during life. It is a warning against hoarding inconsequential material because it will only be lost eventually. Eliot uses the image of the Phoenician and perfectly flowing lines to cement his point.

            The Phoenician is a classical image of wealth, sophistication, and power. They were sea merchants, their wealth made by trading. “Forgot…Profit and loss” is an allusion to the Phoenician culture. It also illustrates the rise and fall of events in this person’s life. Most try to save money, then often loose it by purchasing a house, investing, or by a number of different scenarios.  Everyone looses their youth “passed the stages of his age and youth”, but many try to retain it. If people were less ensconced with money, appearance, and things and more interested in ideas and morality, it would be tougher to take that away from them. Ideas cannot be destroyed if they are shared.

            Despite the terrible event being described in this section. The passage is smooth and very lyrical. There is little to no enjambment. The last two lines are even a sort of conclusion. “O you who turn the wheel and look to windward, / Consider Plebes, who was once handsome and tall as you.” The speaker is issuing a warning to not emulate Plebes, to focus on gain that isn’t easily had or squandered.