e before it is understood'. The theme's that run throughout 'The Wasteland', such as sterility, isolation and death, are applicable to both the landscapes and the characters. When drawn together, it is these themes that give the poem structure and strength, and the use of myth mingled with historic, anthropological, religious and metaphysical images reinforce its universal quality.In part one 'The Burial of the dead', Eliot opens with a scene of isolation and desolation. 'April is the cruellest month…'which is an inversion of what spring represents, this being new life and hope. It is seen here as cruel because, for Marie, it stirs memories, which are no longer there and have led nowhere. He follows this image of isolation with an image of togetherness, 'Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow…' She recalls being free in the mountains, but freedom involves taking risks and she hesitates and goes 'south in the winter'. Marie's memories portray the shallowness of the aristocracy and in many ways we are reminded of the ladies in Prufrock who 'come and go talking of Michael Angelo'. There talking leads nowhere and so by implication their lives are meaningless and dead, as dead as the wasteland. The next stanza shifts to images of the dead land with clutching branches and roots. We can see from this the futile struggle, but it also shows us that there is still a possibility of life. This is also true of mans chance to communicate, which is reinforced by the shift back to Marie's memories, which are more melancholy in tone with talk of hyacinths and wet hair. We also have an injection of German lyric, which highlights the romantic nature of the memories. We can see from Marie's recollections of the rainy afternoon spent with her lover, that there was a chance of something meaningful developing between two people. Sadly, the words 'I could not speak, and my eyes failed'… show that the moment cam...
