In Dante Canto when he says, "Could not believe, death had undone so many", Eliot directly connects this idea to his line saying, "I had not thought death has undone so many." The use of the word "undone" shifts between these two lines. In Dante, it is used as a shock as so many people have died. But for Eliot the people are not literally dead; it is more that something has "undone" them, so death is more a metaphor for numbness.

The Hyacinthus article emphasizes Hyacinthus as a beautiful young man who is loved by Apollo but is accidentally killed. Apollo is devastated, so he names a flower after him as a symbol of his love and grief. Eliot uses the "hyacinth garden" as a way to convey heavy emotion if they are "leaving nor dead." This idea directly aligns with the Hyacinthus myth because the beautiful flower connects both the living and the dead. Hyacinthus is dead, but his memory remains intact through the flower that is named after him.

Eliot is portraying a strong connection to death and despair. Death becomes a form of escape, for the Sibyl, as death would free her from an endless existence. Conrad presents Kurtz as physically alive but destroyed in a spiritual sense before he actually dies. Both Eliot and Conrad offer a life without meaning as a way of a living death. Sibyl wishes for death because being alive has been unbearable. On a similar page Kurtz reaches death after a horrifying reality check about himself and the world around him.

In " The Burial of the Dead", death is described as a universal human experience when it says, "all things are more fleeting than a shadow" implying that death is inevitable. This idea connects to the opening line in "The Waste Land" as April is used to describe what has been lost. Normally, April is a month of rebirth, bringing in new life; instead, the reader must view April as "the cruelest month." Both pieces focus on what happens after death, April being the month to mourn what was lost and then spring into rebirth. Similarly, in "Burial of the Dead" there is a constant idea of reconstruction, which emphasizes the cycle of life present in both pieces. Overall, there is a general idea of death leading towards renewal which can be inferred using the opening lines in "The Waste Land."

The title "The Waste Land", connects to "Heart of Darkness" by Joesph Conrad as Conrad portrays a decaying, dark life. He represents a physical wasteland as he says, "His was a impenetrable darkness." He suggests a life without meaning, something that is empty. He argues about life's purpose, "the most you can hope from it is some knowledge of yourself" which comes with "regrets." This idea about not being able to totally trust yourself, let alone the people around you, describes the waste land Conrad is outlining by showing a life without without direction. A life where you are constantly in search of your "destiny" unsure where to go next.