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T. S. EliotA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Before the poem begins, an Epigraph in two quotations by the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus appears, inviting readers to think about knowledge and the sameness of “the way upward and the way downward” (Epigraph).
The first poem of the quartet begins with a meditation on time, which is “unredeemable” (Line 5) no matter its context in the past, present, or future. The speaker of the poem—who is understood to be Eliot himself—then invites the reader through a gate to a rose garden, acknowledging that he, the speaker, is unaware of a reason to explore the roses.
The speaker accompanies the reader into the garden, prodding them to be led by the sounds of nature and the bird guiding them through a gate. “Unheard music” (Line 29) sounds as the reader moves through the garden towards an empty pool where a single lotus appears. A cloud passes overhead as the bird urges the reader to leave the garden because “human kind/Cannot bear very much reality” (Lines 44-45).
The second section of “Burnt Norton” begins with an image of “[g]arlic and sapphires in the mud” (Line 49). Wars of the past have left “scars” (Line 52), and the speaker traces the movement of blood under the stars where “the boarhound and the boar” (Line 61) dance.
By T. S. Eliot
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday
T. S. Eliot
East Coker
East Coker
T. S. Eliot
Journey of the Magi
Journey of the Magi
T. S. Eliot
Little Gidding
Little Gidding
T. S. Eliot
Mr. Mistoffelees
Mr. Mistoffelees
T. S. Eliot
Murder in the Cathedral
Murder in the Cathedral
T. S. Eliot
Portrait of a Lady
Portrait of a Lady
T. S. Eliot
Preludes
Preludes
T. S. Eliot
Rhapsody On A Windy Night
Rhapsody On A Windy Night
T. S. Eliot
The Cocktail Party
The Cocktail Party
T. S. Eliot
The Hollow Men
The Hollow Men
T. S. Eliot
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
T. S. Eliot
The Song of the Jellicles
The Song of the Jellicles
T. S. Eliot
The Waste Land
The Waste Land
T. S. Eliot
Tradition and the Individual Talent
Tradition and the Individual Talent
T. S. Eliot