https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vetFZ9AaJf8

The clairvoyante’s cards seem to be Tarot cards in this stanza.

Most obviously, “The Hanged Man” is the name of one of the major arcana/trumps, representing a traitorous person, or a crossroads. “The Wheel [of Fortune]” is also a trump, and represents change and movement, and the cycle of life.

The other cards all appear to be minor arcana. “The drowned Phoenician Sailor” seems to refer to the Ten of Swords, representing anguish and defeat, but with a chance of hope. (It is considered one of the most negative cards.) “Belladonna / Lady of the Rocks / Lady of Situations” is the Queen of Cups, representing a difficult road with a large reward at the end. “The man with three staves” is the Three of Wands, representing a journey, or hope for renewal. (Interestingly, this card often depicts a man looking out on a wasteland.) Finally, “the one-eyed merchant” would likely be the Six of Pentacles/Coins, representing equality and generosity.

This could be read into much more deeply than the general meanings of each card, but overall, the message appears to be “bleak, but with hope of salvation or reparation.”

Interesting, because a snowy mountain is also a fairly desolate place (dead trees/plants, deadly stillness or harsh wind, untouched landscape, etc), but it is seen as beautiful instead of distasteful like the wasteland that Eliot describes.

Things that were ruined are regaining life, while the things that were alive are now being ruined by those things regaining life. Nature was ruined by man and revives, and now man is ruined by nature, because he no longer knows how to live within it.

Water/ocean reclaiming, could be seen as despairing or hopeful.

Sudden rhyme scheme here (and below).

The voice is described as “inviolable,” something sacred and incorruptible, in contrast to the rest of the wasteland. Her words, however, don't appear to have any meaning to us.

Connects to our class discussions about garbage/trash as a theme. “Stony rubbish” underlines the theme of uselessness, as things can grow out of most trash, but things cannot grow out of stone itself.

You can see this word also in the first stanza; “On earth again of home.” Here we see “assured that on firm earth it stood,” which gives both a physical sense of earth and a sense of the metaphorical earth as being related to the home.

I think “home” is a strong theme in the feeling of this poem, especially in the previous line “That held as much as he should ever know.” It’s interesting also that the word is immediately followed by “[he] paused warily.”

Her constant jumping between topics and back to the wallpaper really gives that feeling of obsession and being troubled.

“Fiercely sunny” is an interesting way to describe trying to trump oppression through excellence. The idea of it not being so “fiercely sunny” for most black boys shows how tiring that fight can be, and how many decide it isn’t worth that effort.

“Trying to win favor from wealthy/influential people by flattering them”

I think there is an interesting point here, especially when you consider modern stories and advertising. I don’t really think there’s anything sacred about sex, but you see it everywhere, to the point that it completely lacks any kind of genuine meaning. It exists to be sold.

I just found this line funny. It’s true that any kind of progress or change is always met with fear from someone. Change can certainly be bad, but it seems that it’s always assumed to be bad in some way or another. Kind of reminds me of all those “millennials are ruining [insert random thing here]” articles that people have been writing lately.

This line is interesting. Humans like when things are organized, and like to put them in place that way, so you can see how history might become distorted when relations between events are assumed.

The amount of highlighting on this line really shows you how much it resonates with the current generation of students. There’s a real push to learn facts, but those facts are often forgotten quickly after the class is over, and even if they’re remembered, don’t usually have much relevance. There’s not enough effort put into connecting ideas across disciplines and parts of life.

West Virginia seems to be a distasteful place in this line, but I think “Kiss My Ass” as a place can either mean another place (physical or not) that is bad, or to get to a place where you can tell bad places/people “kiss my ass.” (Could also be taken as arrogance, if that’s the interpretation.)

I think the idea behind this is “having many things to do” but also “having many possibilities.” I don’t think this was what was intended, but it also reminds me of Hindu deities who are often portrayed with many arms to show superhuman power.

This section (and the line before it) bring to mind the idea that the earth is dying because of the actions of humans, and so it is “calling” everything back. I think it can be taken either as the earth taking revenge for that damage, or as the earth offering humans a chance to leave it behind. (It gives me the image of an open grave.)