Discuss Eliot's use of symbols and imagery by the technique of Poetic Shorthand.
Or
Critically assess the technique of Poetic Shorthand used by Eliot, supported by illustrations from he Waste Land.
Eliot's Style:
Eliot's poetry abound in allusion, references, quotations and literary reminiscences which bewilder and perplex the readers. Eliot's erudition was profound, he was familiar with not one literature, but with many litrature snot with one philosophy, but many philosophies. European literature right from Homer down to his own day, the Hindu and the Buddhist and other oriental philosophies and literatures, ancient and primitive myths, legends, Biblical mythology and legend, all furnish him with allusions and quotations. Reference to and borrowing from little known sources are frequent. In The Waste Land alone there are allusions and references to at least twenty-five different languages. The close of The Burial of the Dead" is a mosaic of quotations and allusions that I.A. Richards referred to his style as, "Poetic Shorthand", not only that frequently a quotations is modified and altered so that it becomes impossible to identify its source. All this stupendous scholarship cannot but result in despair for his readers.
Advantages of Poetic Shorthand:
What has been called as Eliot's "poetic Shorthand" is his device for linking the contemporary waste land with places and scenes in history, myth and legend, by the use of phrases, fragments of quotations, allusions etc., from poets and authors of different ages and countries. Thus the use of the phrase 'unreal city', in the following passage, link up London with Paris, the city of Baudelaire and with Dante's Limbo:
Unreal city
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,
A crowd flowed over London bridge, so many
I had not thought death had undone so many.
The concluding part of this passage is a mosaic of quotations and allusions and in this way the poet has shown that all wars are one war, all cities are one city and all human failure is one failure. In this way, the topical is universalized and the poem acquires the impersonality of great art.
The purpose of such allusions and quotations of these borrowings, is not to show off knowledge or a mere exercise of wit. The borrowings are not decorative but functional. It is a technical device for compression. According to I.A. Richards, "the waste land is the equivalent in content to an epic. Without this devise twelve books wound have been needed".
Often a sense of ironic contrast is also produced by this device of "Poetic Shorthand". Thus the quotations 'when lovely woman stoops to folly' reminds us of the value attached to chastity in the past and it is ironically contrasted with the typist's indifference to it. Similarly, "the sound of horns" reminds us of Diana and Actaeon and the purity of Diana is ironically contrasted with Mrs. Porter's washing her feet, "in soda water", to improve her complexion.
Personal Symbols:
Another aspect of this technique of poetic shorthand is Eliot's use of symbols and imagery. The symbols used by a poet may be traditional or conventional in which case they are easy to understand and do not present much difficulty for the readers or they may be entirely personal in which case they are stumbling blocks in the way of the readers. T.S. Eliot's symbols are on the whole traditional. Generally, he draws his symbols from ancient myths and religions, the European literary tradition, and the Bible. Only a small percentage of his symbols is personal, either invented by the poet himself or compounded out or modified from traditional images and symbols. Thus 'the Dog' symbolising human conscience, the "Red rock", the wrath of God or a place of refuge, and "Broken Coriolanus" the pride and ego which isolate the human soul and lead to its fall, are examples of personal symbols. Then there are also symbols, used for the first time by Eliot, drawn from the common everyday aspects of city life. Thus (1) a taxi throbbing waiting' symbolises the eagerness of the typist to return home (2) 'silk hat on the head of a Bradlord Millionaire' symbolises the awkwardness of the youngman carbuncular, and (3) the Broken finger nails' symbolise the emptiness and insignificance of the life of the three Thames daughters.
Symbols Drawn from Myths and Legends
But the most significant of his symbols are drawn from ancient myths and legends and are centred round the basic theme of birth-death-rebirth. Thus spring stands for re-birth, winter for death, rain for spiritual fertility. draught for spiritual dryness. Fishing symbolises spiritual re-birth and rejuvenation, water is an ambivalent symbol. It symbolises destruction as well as transformation and purification. Rocks without grass or root symbolise spiritual desolation. Fire symbolises lust and passion which are destructive, but ambivalently it also symbolises spiritual exaltation and purification. Planting of the corpse symbolises both death and rejuvenation.
Complex Symbols
Then there are more complex symbols, often compounded from the primary or elementary symbols mentioned above. Thus in the first section, the life of the German princess, her journey to the South in search of warmth, symbolise the rootlessness of modern humanity and its search for sensuous pleasures. In the passage which follows, the barren landscape, in which there are rocks without grass or roots, and the trees without shade, symbolise the spiritual desolation of the modern wasteland. The title of the second part, 'A Game of Chess', symbolises the sex-intrigues and counter-intrigues which have resulted in stalemate in family life in the contemporary waste land.
It also, symbolises the futile exercise of the mind by the modern man. The river, "sweating oil and tar", symbolises the squalor and dirt of modern life, and the prison, with each one hearing the turning of the key, symbolises the ego-centric nature of each man, and the dull routine of his life. The uselessness and emptiness of modern life is also symbolised by, "the rat's alley, where dead men lost their bones". "Breaking rock", the "London bridge falling down, falling down, the earth cracking and spilling", all symbolise the spiritual, social and political disintegration of the post-war Europe. "A heap of broken images", "whithered stumps of time", etc.. signify loss of faith in old values. Phelomela and her song are symbols of spiritual rejuvenation through suffering: her song being mere "jug, jug" to modern humanity symbolises the indifference of modern humanity to things spiritual. The typist's turning on the gramophone, after her seduction, with automatic hands, symbolises the indifference of men and women to all sexual values. Tiresias himself is a complex symbol; a symbol of human conscience, and the spokesman of humanity. The release from the state of spiritual decay into which contemporary Europe has fallen is symbolised by, "the boat sailing gaily" under expert hands, the crowing of the cock, and the gust of damp wind.
Biblical Symbols
The Tarot Pack: Its Symbolic Significance
In the end, a word may be said about, 'the Tarot Pack', and its symbolic significance. It is an obscure symbol difficult to explain. "The Tarot Pack, which superficially appears to have no relation to ancient myth or modern scepticism and despair, is a pack of cards, still used by gypsies for telling fortunes, which may be traced back to an ancient Egyptian calendar recording the rise and fall of the Nile, and to a Chinese monument commemorating the recession of the waters of the Flood". Thus 'Madam Sosostris, famous clairvoyante' with her 'wicked pack of cards'; one of which is the Hanged Man, whom the poet associates with the Hanged God, sacrificed for the sake of life more abundant, darkly emphasized the suggestion of the freeing of the waters which will renew fertility. The four suits in the Tarot Pack: Cup, Lance, Sword and Dish, have a mystic significance obviously related to fertility symbols.
Conclusion
In short, Eliot has used a complex symbolic technique in The Waste Land, with symbolism running from the beginning to the end of the poem, to bring out the decay and desolation of contemporary civilisation. Many of the symbols are ambivalent, the same symbol being used in more than one sense. This technique accounts to a great extent for the complexity and intricacy of the poem as well as for its suggestiveness, economy and unique comprehensiveness.