by T. S. Eliot
of the Fisher King.
425 [Shall I . . . in order]: Compare Isaiah 38:1: “Thus saieth the Lord, Set thine
house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.”
426 [London Bridge . . . falling down]: A nursery rhyme.
427 [Poi s’ascose . . . aªna]: “Then he vanished into the fire that refines them”
(Italian). Eliot’s note cites Dante, Purgatorio XXVI, 145–148:
“Now I beseech you, by that virtue
which conducts you to the summit of the steps [in Purgatory],
at times bethink yourself of my su¤ering.”
Then he vanished into the fire that refines them.
Dante hears these words from the Provençal poet Arnaut Daniel, whom he
has met in the seventh circle of Purgatory, reserved for the lustful.
1 2 2
e d i t o r ’ s a n n o t a t i o n s t o l i n e 4 2 8
428 [Quando fiam . . . swallow]: Eliot’s note refers the reader to the anonymous
Latin poem the Pervigilium Veneris (The vigil of Venus). The poem is now
thought to have been written in the early fourth century, most likely by
Tiberianus. But in Eliot’s day both the date and authorship of the poem were
uncertain. We do not know which edition of the poem Eliot used, nor why
his memory introduced a small variant (“ceu” instead of the more common
“uti”) into the text. (See Note on the Text.) Eliot quotes from line 90, three
lines before the poem ends, set within a passage which shifts from religious
hymn to a deeply personal note:
Iam loquaces ore rauco stagna cygni perstrepunt;
85
adsonat Terei puella subter umbram populi,
ut putes motus amore ore dici musico,
et neges queri sororem de marito barbaro,
illa cantat, nos tacemus. quand ver venit meum?
quando fiam uti chelidon, ut tacere desinam?
90
perdidi Musam tacendo, nec me Apollo respicit:
sic Amyclas, cum tacerent, perdidit silentium.
cras amet qui numquam amavit, quique amavait cras amet.
This can be translated:
The swans, with hoarse voice, are trumpeting over the pools;
The young wife of Tereus sings under the poplar shade,
Making you think her melodious mouth was moved by love,
And not a sister’s complaint of her barbarous husband.
She is singing, I am mute. When will my springtime come?
When shall I become like the swallow, that I cease being silent?
I have lost my Muse through being silent, and Phoebus does not
regard me;
So did Amyclae, through being voiceless, perish by its very silence.
Tomorrow let him love who has never loved, and let him who has
tomorrow love.
The town of Amyclae was proverbially silent. The legend ran that it had sev-
eral times su¤ered false alarms over spurious reports of an enemy’s ap-
proach and so had passed a law which forbade the spreading of such news;
when eventually the enemy did come, no one was prepared to violate the law,
and thus did the city “perish by its very silence.”
Some critics are convinced Eliot is also referring in this line to “O Swal-
low, Swallow,” a poem by Alfred Tennyson:
O Swallow, Swallow, flying, flying South,
Fly to her, and fall upon her gilded eaves,
And tell her, tell her, what I tell to thee.
O tell her, Swallow, thou that knowest each,
e d i t o r ’ s a n n o t a t i o n s t o l i n e 4 2 9
1 2 3
That bright and fierce and fickle is the South,
And dark and true and tender is the North.
O Swallow, Swallow, if I could follow, and light
Upon her lattice, I would pipe and trill,
And cheep and twitter twenty million loves.
O were I thou that she might take me in,
And lay me on her bosom, and her heart
Would rock the snowy cradle till I died.
Why lingereth she to clothe her heart with love,
Delaying as the tender ash delays
To clothe herself, when all the woods are green?
O tell her, Swallow, that thy brood is flown:
Say to her, I do but wanton in the South,
But in the North long since my nest is made.
O tell her, brief is life but love is long,
And brief the sun of summer in the North,
And brief the moon of beauty in the South.
O Swallow, flying from the golden woods,
Fly to her, and pipe and woo her, and make her mine,
And tell her, tell her, that I follow thee.
429 [Le Prince . . . tour abolie]: Eliot’s note directs the reader to “El Desdichado”
(1853), a celebrated but cryptic sonnet by the French poet Gérard de Nerval
(1808–1855):
Je suis le ténébreux, —le veuf, —l’inconsolé,
Le Prince d’Aquitaine à la tour abolie:
Ma seule étoile est morte, —et mon luth constellé
Porte le Soleil noir de la Mélancholie.
Dans la nuit du tombeau, toi qui m’as consolé,
Rends-moi le Pausilippe et la mer d’Italie,
La fleur qui plaisait tant à mon coeur désolé,
Et la treille où le pampre à la rose s’allie.
Suis-je Amour ou Phébus? . . . Lusignan ou Biron?
Mon front est rouge encor du baiser de la reine;
J’ai rêvé dans la grotte où nage la sirène . . .
Et j’ai deux foix vainquer traversé l’Achéron:
Modulant tour à tour sur la lyre d’Orphée
Les soupirs de la sainte et les cries de la fée.
This can be translated:
I am the man of gloom, —the widower, —the unconsoled,
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e d i t o r ’ s a n n o t a t i o n s t o l i n e 4 31
The Prince of Aquitania, his tower in ruins:
My only star is dead, and my constellated lute
Bears the Black Sun of Melancholia.
In the night of the tomb, you who’ve consoled me,
Give me back Posillipo and the Italian sea,
The flower that so pleased my desolate heart,
And the arbor where the vine and rose are intertwined.
Am I Amor or Phoebus? . . . Lusignan or Biron?
My brow still burns from the kiss of the queen;
I have dreamed in the grotto where the siren swims . . .
And twice I have crossed Acheron victorious:
Modulating on the lyre of Orpheus
Now the sighs of the saint, now the cry of the fairy.
Mount Posillipo in Naples is celebrated for its grottoes and is the site of
Virgil’s grave. Guy de Lusignan (1129–1194) was king of Jerusalem and
Cyprus and supposedly a descendant of the fairy Melusina; Charles de
Gontaut, duke of Biron (1561–1602), was famous as a lover and adventurer.
431 [Why then . . . mad againe]: Eliot’s note refers to The Spanish Tragedy (1592) by Thomas Kyd (1557?–1595), subtitled Hieronymo Is Mad Againe. Hieronymo has been driven mad by the murder of his son. He is asked to write
a court entertainment or play, and he persuades the murderers to act in it.
Crucially, he also persuades them to speak their parts in di¤erent languages,
much as in the The Waste Land. The Spanish Tragedy, IV.i.59–106:
balthazar: It pleasèd you
At the entertainment of the ambassador
To grace the King so much as with a show.
Now, were your study so well furnishèd
As for the passing of the first night’s spo
rt
To entertain my father with the like,
Or any such-like pleasing motion,
Assume yourself it would content them well.
hieronimo: Is this all?
balthazar: Ay, this is all.
hieronimo: Why then I’ll fit you, say no more.
When I was young, I gave my mind
And plied myself to fruitless poetry;
Which, though it profit the professor naught,
Yet is it passing pleasing to the world.
lorenzo: And how for that?
hieronimo: Marry, my good lord, thus—
And yet methinks you are too quick with us—
e d i t o r ’ s a n n o t a t i o n s t o l i n e 4 31
1 2 5
When in Toledo there I studied,
It was my chance to write a tragedy—
See here, my lords—
He shows them a book.
Which, long forgot, I found this other day.
Now would your lordships favor me so much
As but to grace me with your acting it—
I mean each one of you to play a part—
Assure you it will prove most passing strange
And wondrous plausible to that assembly.
balthazar: What, would you have us play a tragedy?
hieronimo: Why, Nero thought it no disparagement,
And kings and emperors have ta’en delight
To make experience of their wits in plays!
lorenzo: Nay, be not angry, good Hieronimo;
The prince but asked a question.
balthazar: In faith, Hieronimo, and you be in earnest,
I’ll make one.
lorenzo: And I another.
hieronimo: Now, my good lord, could you entreat
Your sister Bel-imperia to make one?
For what’s a play without a woman in it?
bel-imperia: Little entreaty shall serve me, Hieronimo,
For I must needs be employèd in your play.
hieronimo: Why, this is well; I tell you, lordlings,
It was determined to have been acted
By gentlemen and scholars too,
Such as could tell what to speak.
balthazar: And now it shall be played by princes and courtiers,
Such as can tell how to speak,
If, as it is our country manner,
You will but let us know the argument.
IV.ii.169–192:
hieronimo: There’s one thing more that rests for us to do.
balthazar: What’s that, Hieronimo? Forget not anything.
hieronimo: Each one of us must act his part
In unknown languages,
That it may breed the more variety.
1 2 6
e d i t o r ’ s a n n o t a t i o n s t o l i n e 4 3 3
As you, my lord, in Latin, I in Greek,
You in Italian, and for because I know
That Bel-imperia hath practisèd the French,
In courtly French shall all her phrases be.
bel-imperia: You mean to try my cunning then, Hieronimo.
balthazar: But this will be a mere confusion,
And hardly shall we all be understood.
hieronimo: It must be so, for the conclusion
Shall prove the invention and all was good:
And I myself, in an oration,
And with a strange and wondrous show besides,
That I will have there behind a curtain,
Assure yourself shall make the matter known.
And all shall be concluded in one scene,
For there’s no pleasure ta’en in tediousness.
balthazar: [ Aside to Lorenzo] How like you this?
lorenzo: Why thus, my lord,
We must resolve to soothe his humors up.
balthazar: On then, Hieronimo, farewell till soon.
433 [Shantih Shantih Shantih]: Eliot’s note explains that the repetition of this
word marks the ending of an Upanishad and is a loose counterpart to
the phrase “The Peace which passeth understanding.” That phrase, in turn,
comes from Saint Paul’s letter to the Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God,
which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus.”
Historical Collation
t h e f i r s t r e a d i n g g i v e n h e r e i s a l w a y s t h a t o f t h e p r e s e n t e d i t i o n , w h i c h i s a l s o t h a t o f b ( o r t h e b o n i a n d l i v e r i g h t e d i t i o n o f t h e p o e m ) , e x c e p t i n t h e i n s t a n c e s s p e c i f i e d i n a n o t e o n t h e t e x t . o t h e r v e r s i o n s c o l l a t e d a r e t h e c r i t e r i o n ( c ) , t h e d i a l ( d ) , a n d t h e h o g a r t h e d i t i o n o f 19 2 3 ( h ) . s u b s t a n t i v e v a r i a n t s o n l y f r o m p o e m s , 1 9 0 9 –1 9 2 5 ( f ) a r e r e c o r d e d w h e n t h e y d i f f e r f r o m b a n d h . v a r i a n t s f r o m e l i o t ’ s c o l l e c t e d p o e m s , 1 9 0 9 –1 9 3 5 ( 1 9 3 6 ) a r e r e c o r d e d o n l y i n t h e c a s e o f l i n e 4 2 8 .
[Epigraph] D, H; C omits
“Nam] Nam D, H
dicerent:] D; dicerent, H
illa:] D; illa, H
qevlw.”] qevlw. D, H
[Dedication] F; not in C, D, H
1 cruellest] C, H; cruelest D
10 in sunlight] D, H; in the sunlight C
11 Bin . . . deutsch] C, H; Bin . . . deutsch D
15 Marie] D, H; “Marie C
16 tight.] D, H; tight.” C
26 red rock),] C, H; red rock) D
31–34 Frisch . . . du? ] D; Frisch . . . du? C, H
37 —Yet] D, H; Yet C
37 Hyacinth] C, H; hyacinth D
41–42 silence. | Öd’ . . . Meer.] silence. | Öd’ . . . Meer. D; silence. | Od’ . . .
Meer. B, H; silence. | [blank line] | Od’ . . . Meer. C
1 2 7
1 2 8
h i s t o r i c a l c o l l a t i o n
42–43 Meer. | [blank line] | Madame] C; Meer. | Madame D; Meer. |
Madame H
46 Here,] D, H; “Here,” C
47 Is] D, H; “Is C
57 Mrs.] C, H; Mrs D
58 myself:] H; myself; C, D
59 these days.] D, H; in these days.” C
60 rêves] ed.; rèves B, H
62 over] C, D; under H
76 hypocrite lecteur! . . . frère!”] H; hypocrite lecteur! . . . frère!” D; hypocrite lecteur, . . . frère!” C
77 Chair] D, H; chair C
77 throne,] H; throne C, D
80 From which] D, H; Wherefrom C
82 sevenbranched] D; seven-branched C, H
87 perfumes,] H; perfumes C, D
96 carvèd] C, D; coloured H
100 forced] C, D; forc’d H
101 voice] D; voice, C, H
102 cried,] D; cried C; cries H
102 and . . . pursues] D; (and . . . pursues), C; (and . . . pursues) H
111 to-night] C, D, H; tonight B
112 “Speak] Speak C, D, H
112 never speak?] C, D, H; never speak. B
113 “What] What C, D, H
114 “I] I C, D, H
115 rats’] C, D; rat’s H
123 “Nothing] Nothing C, D, H
125 [indented] Those] C, D, H; [flush left] Those B
128–129 Rag— | It’s] D, H; Rag | [blank line] | It’s C
131 do?] C, D; do?” B, H
132 “I] H; I C, D
133 “With] With C, D, H
133 tomorrow] H; to-morrow D, C
134 “What] H; What C, D
139 said—] H; said, C, D
141 it’s] C, H; its B, D
h i s t o r i c a l c o l l a t i o n
1 2 9
141 time] D, H; time. C
148 good time,] C, D; good time. H
149 don’t] C, D, H; dont B
150 Oh] D, H; Hoh C
15
2 it’s] C, H; its B, D
152 time] D, H; time. C
153 don’t] C, D, H; dont B
155 won’t] C, D, H; wont B
156 antique.] C, D; antique, H
158 said] D, H; says C
159 said] D, H; says C
161 all right] C, D; alright B, H
163 Well,] C, H; Well D
163 won’t] C, D, H; wont B
163 said,] D, H; said. C
164 don’t] C, D, H; dont B
165 it’s] C, H; its B, D
165 time] D, H; time. C
166 Well,] D, H; Well C
168 it’s] C, H; its B, D
168 time] D, H; time. C
169 it’s] C, H; its B, D
169 time] D, H; time. C
170 Goonight Bill. Goonight Lou. Goonight May.] D, H; Goonight, Bill.
Goonight, Lou. Goonight, May. C
171 Goonight. Goonight.] D, H; Goonight, goonight. C
180 City] ed.; city B, C, D, H
180 directors;] D; directors, C, H
182 wept . . . ] D, H; wept. . . . C
183 song,] D, H; song; C
187 vegetation] D, H; vegetation, C
188 bank] D, H; bank, C
190 gashouse] D, H; gas-house C
192 him.] D, H; him; C
198 Mrs.] C, H; Mrs D
198–199 spring. | O] D, H; spring | [blank line] | O C
199 Mrs.] C, H; Mrs D
1 3 0
h i s t o r i c a l c o l l a t i o n
200 daughter] D, H; daughter, C
201 water] D, H; water, C
202 Et . . . coupole! ] D; Et . . . coupole! C, H
203 Twit twit twit] D, H; Twit, twit, twit, C
205 forc’d.] D, H; forced, C
207 City] D, H; City, C
209 Mr.] C; Mr D, H
209 merchant] D, H; merchant, C
211 C.i.f.] C. i. f. D, H; C.I.F. C
211 London:] D, H; London, C
213 Hotel] D, H; Hotel, C
214 weekend] H; week-end C, D
216 upward] D, H; upwards C
217 throbbing] D, H; throbbing, C
218 I Tiresias] D; I, Tiresias C, H
218 blind,] C, D; blind H
222 teatime] H; tea-time C, D
228 I Tiresias] D; I, Tiresias C, H
228 dugs] D, H; dugs, C
229 rest—] D, H; rest; C
232 house agent’s] C, H; house-agent’s D
242 indi¤erence.] D, H; indi¤erence C
243 And I Tiresias] D, H; and I, Tiresias, C
245 below] D, H; beneath C
246 dead.) D, H; dead); C
248 unlit . . . ] D, H; unlit. . . . C
252 now] D, H; now, C
255 smoothes] D, H; smooths C
257 waters] D, H; waters, C
259 O City City] D, H; O City city B; O City, City C
260 Lower] D, H; Upper C
