The Metaphysical Poets

In his essay, "The Metaphysical Poets", T.S. Eliot writes:

Our civilization comprehends great variety and complexity, and this variety and complexity, playing upon a refined sensibility, must produce various and complex results. The poet must become more and more comprehensive, more allusive, more indirect, in order to force, to dislocate if necessary, language into his meaning.

Eliot's poem, "The Waste Land" is a great example of this idea, where references to mythical and religious symbols represent or express his meaning. If the reader quickly skims through each passage of this epic poem the meaning is lost among the seemingly disjunct and dissonant imagery. The Norton Anthology contributors suggest that Eliot "sought to make poetry more subtle, more suggestive, and at the same time more precise." Elliot's usage of mythical and religious symbols supports this methodology. Eliot hinted in his essay "Ulysses, Order, and Myth" that "The Waste Land" is a work of "manipulating a continuous parallel between contemporaneity and antiquity." In describing this process, he coined the phrase "they mythical method" - the use of mythology and religious material to paint a symbolic picture of the modern Waste Land.

A Game of Chess

Episode II of Eliot's epic poem, A Game of Chess, is full of incredible imagery, painting the opening scene with a beautifully decorated room where a woman of means sits in the glow of candlelight. Eliot compares this woman to Cleopatra while an opposing female figure, Philomel, hangs upon the wall. The dichotomy can be interpreted in many ways and we could guess Eliot's intentions.

If we return to the "mythical method" we may accept all possible interpretations. We should consider the possibility that Eliot is providing a broader horizon in which we may see more clearly the whole of life. This holistic view permits us to simply see the more precise message.

Similar to Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Eliot uses dichotomy in his imagery to represent polar opposites, yet highlighting similarities between the characters and the virtues and failings of human nature.

The Quen of Egypt and the Nightingale are both victims of situation and circumstance. Cleopatra is a victim of her station in life. She is the Queen of Egypt, struggling to maintain her rule as the Romans overrun her authority. Cleopatra ultimately makes a fatal mistake; an error in judgment, thus relinquishing her reign of Egypt. "The change of Philomel" hanging on the wall of this lavish woman's room references the Greek myth of Philomel who was raped by King Tereus and then changed into a nightingale. This violent act visibly portrayed seems to be in direct opposition to the woman's outward life of privilege. Victimization doesn't seem to be out of the ordinary.

In addition, to the perceived and obvious victims in this episode, we are introduced to another woman, Lil, who is the exact opposite, physically, of the woman who is speaking. She does not have money, she is tired and worn from baring and raising children. Her life is hard. Yet the speaker and Lil are friends. Their differences have not hindered this friendship. One might ask, what connects these two. Again, we can speculate or guess Eliot's intentions. Lil appears to be a victim of circumstance, a combination of chosen situation, marriage, and the consequences of marriage - bearing and raising children. As with Cleopatra, Philomel, and Ophelia, Lil's only release from this life may be wading through deep waters whispering "good night, good night."

HURRY UP PLEASE IT’S TIME HURRY UP PLEASE IT’S TIME Goonight Bill. Goonight Lou. Goonight May. Goonight. Ta ta. Goonight. Goonight. Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night.