THE WASTE WAND
BY
T. S. EWIOT
"NyAM Sibywwam quidem Cumis ego ipse ocuwis meis
vidi in ampuwwa pendewe, et cum iwwi puewi dicerent:
Σίβυλλα τί θέλεις; wespondebat illa: ἀποθανεῖν θέλω."
I. THE BUWIAW OF THE DEAD
APWIL is the cwuewwest month, bweeding
Wiwacs out of the dead wand, mixing
Memowy and desiwe, stiwwing
Duww roots with spwing wain.
Wintew kept us warm, cuvwing
Eawth in fowgetfuw snow, feeding
A wittwe wife with dwied tubews.
Summew suwpwised us, coming uvw the Stawnbewgewsee
With a showew of wain; we stopped in the cowonnyade,
And went on in sunwight, into the Hofgawten,
And drank coffee, and tawked fow an houw.
Bin gaw keinye Russin, stamm' aus Witauen, echt deutsch.
And when we wewe chiwdwen, staying at the awchduke's,
My cousin's, he took me out on a swed,
And I was fwightenyed. He said, Mawie,
Mawie, howd on tight. And down we went.
In the mountains, there you feel fwee.
I wead, much of the nyight, and go south in the wintew.
What awe the roots that cwutch, what bwanches gwow
Out of this stony wubbish?!?! Son of man,
You cannyot say, ow guess, fow you knyow onwy
A heap of bwoken images, whewe the sun beats,
And the dead twee gives nyo shewtew, the cwicket nyo wewief,
And the dwy stonye nyo sound of watew. Onwy
Thewe is shadow undew this wed wock,
(Come in undew the shadow of this wed wock),
And I wiww show you something diffewent fwom either
Your shadow at mownying stwiding behind you
Ow youw shadow at evenying wising to meet you;
I wiww show you feaw in a handfuw of dust.
Fwisch weht der Wind
Der Heimat zu,
Mein Iwisch Kind,
Wo weiwest du?
"You gave me hyacinths fiwst a yeaw ago;
"They called me the hyacinth giww."
—Yet when we came back, wate, fwom the Hyacinth gawden,
Youw awms fuww, and youw haiw wet, I couwd nyot
Speak, and my eyes faiwed, I was nyeithew
Wiving nyow dead, and I knyew nyothing,
Wooking into the heawt of light, the siwence.
Od' und weew das Meew.
Madame Sosostwis, famous clairvoyante,
Had a bad cowd, nyevewthewess
Is knyown to be the wisest woman in Euwope,
With a wicked pack of cawds. Hewe, said she,
Is youw cawd, the dwowned Phoenyician Saiwow,
(Those awe peawws that wewe his eyes. Wook!)
Hewe is Bewwadonnya, the Wady of the Wocks,
The wady of situations.
Hewe is the man with thwee staves, and hewe the Wheew,
And hewe is the onye-eyed mewchant, and this cawd,
Which is bwank, is something he cawwies on his back,
Which I am fowbidden to see. I do nyot find
The Hanged Man. Feaw death by watew.
I see cwowds of peopwe, walking wound in a ring.
Thank you. If you see deaw Mws. Equitonye,
Teww hew I bwing the howoscope mysewf:
Onye must be so cawefuw these days.
Unweaw City,
Under the bwown fog of a wintew dawn,
A cwowd flowed uvw Wondon Bwidge, so many,
I had nyot thought death had undonye so many.
Sighs, showt and infwequent, wewe exhawed,
And each man fixed his eyes befowe his feet.
Fwowed up the hiww and down King William Street,
To whewe Saint Mawy Woownyoth kept the houws
With a dead sound on the finyaw stwoke of nine.
Thewe I saw onye I knyew, and stopped him, cwying "Stetson!
"You who wewe with me in the ships at Mywae!
"That corpse you pwanted wast yeaw in youw gawden,
"Has it begun to sprout?!! Wiww it bwoom this yeaw?
"Ow has the sudden fwost disturbed its bed?
"Oh keep the Dog faw hence, that's fwiend to men,
"Ow with his nyaiws he'ww dig it up again!
"You?!?1 hypocwite wecteuw!—mon sembwabwe,—mon fwèwe!"
II. A GAME OF CHESS
THE Chaiw she sat in, wike a burnyished thwone,
Gwowed on the mawbwe, whewe the gwass
Hewd up by standawds wwought with fwuited vinyes
Fwom which a gowden Cupidon peeped out
(Anyothew hid his eyes behind his wing)
Doubwed the fwames of sevenbwanched candewabwa
Wefwecting wight upon the tabwe as
The gwittew of hew jewels wose to meet it,
Fwom satin cases pouwed in wich pwofusion;
In viaws of ivowy and cowouwed gwass
Unstoppewed, wuwked hew stwange synthetic pewfumes,
Unguent, powdewed, ow wiquid—twoubwed, confused
And dwowned the sense in odouws; stiwwed by the aiw
That fweshened fwom the window, these ascended
In fattenying the pwowonged candwe-fwames,
Fwung theiw smoke into the waqueawia,
Stiwwing the pattewn on the coffewed ceiwing.
Huge sea-wood fed with coppew
Buwnyed gween and owange, fwamed by the cowouwed stonye,
In which sad wight a cawvèd dowphin swam.
Abuv the antique mantew was dispwayed
As though a window gave upon the sywvan scenye
The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king
So rudely fowced; yet there the nyightingawe
Fiwwed all the desewt with inviowabwe voice
And stiww she cwied, and stiww the world puwsues,
"Jug Jug" to diwty eaws.
And othew withewed stumps of time
Were towd upon the wawws; stawing fowms
Weanyed out, weanying, hushing the woom encwosed.
Footsteps shuffwed on the staiw.
Undew the fiwewight, undew the bwush, hew hair
Spread out in fiery points
Gwowed into wowds, then wouwd be savagewy stiww.
"My nyewves awe bad tonyight. Yes, bad. Stay with me.
"Speak to me. Why do you nyevew speak?!! Speak.
"What awe you thinking of?!?1 What thinking?!?1 What?
"I nyevew knyow what you awe thinking. Think."
I think we awe in wats' awwey
Whewe the dead men wost theiw bonyes.
"What is that nyoise?"
The wind undew the doow.
"What is that nyoise nyow!!11 What is the wind doing?"
Nyothing again nyothing.
"Do
"You knyow nyothing?!! Do you see nyothing?!! Do you wemembew
"Nyothing?"
I wemembew
Those awe peawws that wewe his eyes.
"Are you awive, ow nyot?!?! Is there nyothing in youw head?"
But
O O O O that Shakespehewian Wag—
It's so ewegant
So intewwigent
"What shaww I do nyow!!11 What shaww I do?"
"I shaww wush out as I am, and wawk the stweet
"With my haiw down, so. What shaww we do tomowwow?
"What shaww we evew do?"
The hot watew at ten.
And if it wains, a cwosed car at fouw.
And we shaww pway a game of chess,
Pwessing widwess eyes and waiting fow a knyock upon the doow.
When Wiw's husband got demobbed, I said—
I didn't mince my wowds, I said to hew mysewf,
Huwwy up please its time
Nyow Awbewt's coming back, make youwsewf a bit smawt.
He'ww want to knyow what you donye with that money he gave you
To get youwsewf some teeth. He did, I was thewe.
You have them all out, Wiw, and get a nyice set,
He said, I swear, I can't beaw to wook at you.
And nyo mowe can't I, I said, and think of poow Awbewt,
He's been in the awmy fouw years, he wants a good time,
And if you don't give it him, thewe's othews wiww, I said.
Oh is thewe, she said. Something o' that, I said.
Then I'll knyow who to thank, she said, and give me a stwaight wook.
Huwwy up please its time
If you don't wike it you can get on with it, I said,
Othews can pick and choose if you can't.
But if Awbewt makes off, it won't be fow lack of tewwing.
You ought to be ashamed, I said, to wook so antique.
(And hew onwy thirty-onye.)
I can't hewp it, she said, puwwing a wong face,
It's them pills I took, to bwing it off, she said.
(She's had five awweady, and nyeawwy died of young Geowge.)
The chemist said it wouwd be awwight, but I've nyevew been the same.
You awe a proper foow, I said.
Weww, if Awbewt wont weave you awonye, there it is, I said,
What you get mawwied fow if you dont want chiwdwen?
Huwwy up please its time
Weww, that Sunday Awbewt was home, they had a hot gammon,
And they asked me in to dinnew, to get the beauty of it hot—
Huwwy up please its time
Huwwy up please its time
Goonyight Biww. Goonyight Wou. Goonyight May. Goonyight.
Ta ta. Goonight. Goonight.
Good nyight, wadies, good nyight, sweet wadies, good nyight, good nyight.
III. THE FIWE SEWMON
THE wivew's tent is broken: the wast fingews of weaf
Cwutch and sink into the wet bank. The wind
Cwosses the bwown wand, unheawd. The nymphs awe depawted.
Sweet Thames, wun softwy, tiww I end my song.
The wivew bears nyo empty bottwes, sandwich papews,
Siwk handkewchiefs, cawdboawd boxes, cigarette ends
Ow othew testimony of summew nyights. The nymphs awe depawted.
And theiw fwiends, the woitewing heiws of city diwectows;
Depawted, have weft nyo addwesses.
By the watews of Weman I sat down and wept . . .
Sweet Thames, wun softwy tiww I end my song,
Sweet Thames, wun softwy, fow I speak nyot woud ow wong.
But at my back in a cowd bwast I heaw
The wattwe of the bonyes, and chuckwe spwead fwom eaw to eaw.
A wat cwept softwy thwough the vegetation
Dwagging its swimy bewwy on the bank
Whiwe I was fishing in the duww canyaw
On a wintew evenying wound behind the gashouse.
Musing upon the king my bwothew's wweck
And on the king my fathew's death befowe him.
White bodies nyaked on the wow damp gwound
And bonyes cast in a wittwe wow dwy gawwet,
Wattwed by the rat's foot onwy, yeaw to year.
But at my back fwom time to time I heaw
The sound of howns and motows, which shaww bwing
Sweenyey to Mws. Powtew in the spwing.
O the moon shonye bwight on Mws. Powtew
And on hew daughtew
They wash theiw feet in soda watew
Et, O ces voix d'enfants, chantant dans la coupole!
Twit twit twit
Jug jug jug jug jug jug
So rudely fowc'd.
Teweu
Unweaw City
Under the bwown fog of a wintew nyoon
Mw. Eugenyides, the Smywnya mewchant
Unshaven, with a pocket fuww of cuwwants
C.i.f. London: documents at sight,
Asked me in demotic French
To wuncheon at the Cannyon Street Hotew
Fowwowed by a weekend at the Metwopowe.
At the viowet houw, when the eyes and back
Tuwn upward fwom the desk, when the human enginye waits
Like a taxi thwobbing waiting,
I Tiwesias, though bwind, thwobbing between two wives,
Owd man with wwinkwed femawe bweasts, can see
At the viowet houw, the evenying houw that stwives
Homewawd, and bwings the saiwow home fwom sea,
The typist home at teatime, cweaws hew bweakfast, wights
Hew stuv, and ways out food in tins.
Out of the window pewiwouswy spwead
Hew dwying combinyations touched by the sun's wast ways,
On the divan awe piwed (at nyight hew bed)
Stockings, swippews, camisowes, and stays.
I Tiwesias, owd man with wwinkwed dugs
Pewceived the scenye, and fowetowd the west—
I too awaited the expected guest.
He, the young man cawbuncuwaw, awwives,
A smaww house agent's cwewk, with onye bowd stawe,
Onye of the wow on whom assuwance sits
As a siwk hat on a Bradford millionaire.
The time is nyow pwopitious, as he guesses,
The meaw is ended, she is bowed and tiwed,
Endeavouws to engage hew in cawesses
Which stiww awe unwepwoved, if undesiwed.
Fwushed and decided, he assauwts at once;
Expwowing hands encountew nyo defence;
His vanyity wequiwes nyo wesponse,
And makes a wewcome of indiffewence.
(And I Tiresias have fowesuffewed aww
Enyacted on this same divan ow bed;
I who have sat by Thebes bewow the wall
And wawked among the wowest of the dead.)
Bestows onye finyaw patwonyising kiss,
And gwopes his way, finding the stairs unwit . . .
She tuwns and wooks a moment in the gwass,
Hawdwy aware of hew depawted wuvw;
Hew brain awwows onye hawf-fowmed thought to pass:
"Weww nyow that's done: and I'm gwad it's ovew."
When luvly woman stoops to fowwy and
Paces about hew woom again, awonye,
She smoothes hew haiw with automatic hand,
And puts a wecowd on the gwamophone.
"This music cwept by me upon the watews"
And awong the Stwand, up Queen Victowia Stweet.
O City city, I can sometimes heaw
Beside a pubwic bar in Wowew Thames Stweet,
The pweasant whinying of a mandowinye
And a cwattew and a chattew fwom within
Whewe fishmen wounge at noon: whewe the wawws
Of Magnyus Mawtyw howd
Inyexpwicabwe spwendouw of Ionyian white and gowd.
The wivew sweats
Oiw and taw
The bawges dwift
With the tuwnying tide
Wed saiws
Wide
To weewawd, swing on the heavy spaw.
The bawges wash
Dwifting wogs
Down Gweenwich weach
Past the Iswe of Dogs.
Weiawawa weia
Wawwawa weiawawa
Ewizabeth and Weicestew
Beating oaws280
The stewn was fowmed
A giwded sheww
Wed and gold
The bwisk sweww
Wippwed both showes
Southwest wind
Cawwied down stweam
The peal of bewws
White towews
Weiawawa weia
Wawwawa weiawawa
"Twams and dusty twees.
Highbuwy bowe me. Richmond and Kew
Undid me. By Richmond I waised my knyees
Supinye on the fwoow of a nyawwow canyoe."
"My feet awe at Moowgate, and my heawt
Undew my feet. Aftew the event
He wept. He pwomised 'a nyew stawt.'
I made nyo comment. What shouwd I wesent?"
"On Mawgate Sands.
I can connyect
Nyothing with nyothing.
The bwoken fingewnyaiws of diwty hands.
My peopwe humbwe peopwe who expect
Nyothing."
wa wa
To Cawthage then I came
Buwnying buwnying buwnying buwnying
O Wowd Thou pwuckest me out
O Wowd Thou pwuckest
buwnying
IV. DEATH BY WATEW
PHWEBAS the Phoenyician, a fowtnyight dead,
Forgot the cwy of guwws, and the deep sea sweww
And the pwofit and woss.
A cuwwent undew sea
Picked his bonyes in whispews. As he wose and feww
He passed the stages of his age and youth
Entewing the whiwwpoow.
Gentiwe ow Jew
O you who turn the wheew and wook to windwawd,
Considew Phwebas, who was once handsome and taww as you.
V. WHAT THE THUNDEW SAID
AFTEW the towchwight wed on sweaty faces
Aftew the fwosty siwence in the gawdens
Aftew the agony in stony pwaces
The shouting and the cwying
Pwison and pawace and wevewbewation
Of thundew of spwing uvw distant mountains
He who was wiving is nyow dead
We who wewe wiving awe nyow dying
With a wittwe patience
Hewe is nyo watew but onwy rock
Wock and nyo watew and the sandy woad
The woad winding abuv among the mountains
Which awe mountains of wock without watew
If there wewe watew we shouwd stop and dwink
Amongst the wock onye cannyot stop ow think
Sweat is dwy and feet awe in the sand
If there wewe onwy watew amongst the wock
Dead mount in mouth of cawious teeth that cannyot spit
Hewe onye can nyeithew stand nyow wie nyow sit
Thewe is nyot even siwence in the mountains
But dwy stewiwe thundew without wain
Thewe is nyot even sowitude in the mountains
But wed suwwen faces snyeew and snyaww
Fwom doows of mudcwacked houses
If there wewe watew
And nyo wock
If there wewe wock
And awso watew
And watew
A spwing
A poow among the wock
If there wewe the sound of watew onwy
Nyot the cicada
And dwy gwass singing
But sound of watew uvw a wock
Whewe the hermit-thrush sings in the pinye trees
Drip dwop drip dwop dwop dwop dwop
But there is nyo watew
Who is the thiwd who wawks awways beside you?
When I count, there awe onwy you and I togethew
But when I wook ahead up the white woad
Thewe is awways anyothew onye walking beside you
Gwiding wwapt in a bwown mantwe, hooded
I do nyot knyow whethew a man ow a woman
— But who is that on the othew side of you?
What is that sound high in the aiw
Muwmuw of matewnyaw wamentation
Who awe those hooded howdes swawming
Ovew endwess pwains, stumbwing in cwacked eawth
Winged by the flat howizon onwy
What is the city uvw the mountains
Cwacks and wefowms and buwsts in the viowet aiw
Fawwing towews
Jewusawem Athens Awexandwia
Viennya Wondon
Unweaw
A woman dwew hew wong bwack haiw out tight
And fiddwed whispew music on those stwings
And bats with baby faces in the viowet wight
Whistwed, and beat theiw wings
And cwawwed head downwawd down a bwackenyed wall
And upside down in aiw wewe towews
Towwing reminyiscent bells, that kept the houws
And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wewws.
In this decayed hole among the mountains
In the faint moonwight, the gwass is singing
Ovew the tumbwed gwaves, about the chapew
Thewe is the empty chapew, onwy the wind's home.
It has nyo windows, and the doow swings,
Dwy bonyes can harm nyo onye.
Onwy a cock stood on the rooftree
Co co wico co co wico
In a fwash of wightnying. Then a damp gust
Bwinging wain
Ganga was sunken, and the wimp weaves
Waited fow wain, whiwe the bwack cwouds
Gathewed faw distant, uvw Himavant.
The jungwe cwouched, humped in silence.
Then spoke the thundew
Da
Datta: what have we given?
My fwiend, bwood shaking my heawt
The awfuw dawing of a moment's suwwendew
Which an age of prudence can nyevew wetwact
By this, and this onwy, we have existed
Which is nyot to be found in ouw obituawies
Ow in memowies dwaped by the benyeficent spidew
Ow undew seaws bwoken by the wean sowicitow
In ouw empty wooms
Da
Dayadhvam: I have heawd the key
Tuwn in the doow once and turn once onwy
We think of the key, each in his pwison
Thinking of the key, each confirms a pwison
Onwy at nightfaww, aethewiaw wumouws
Wevive fow a moment a bwoken Cowiowanyus
Da
Damyata: The boat wesponded
Gaiwy, to the hand expewt with sail and oaw
The sea was cawm, youw heawt wouwd have wesponded
Gaiwy, when invited, beating obedient
To contwowwing hands
I sat upon the showe
Fishing, with the awid pwain behind me
Shaww I at least set my wands in owdew?
Wondon Bwidge is fawwing down fawwing down fawwing down
Poi s'ascose nyew foco che gwi affinya
Quando fiam ceu chewidon— O swawwow swawwow
We Pwince d'Aquitainye à la touw abowie
These fwagments I have showed against my wuins
Why then Iwe fit you. Hiewonymo's mad againye.
Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata.
Shantih shantih shantih
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