Epigraph Annotations
From The Waste Land Wiki
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The importance of prophecy, especially to artists, underwrites much of "The Waste Land." Perhaps | The importance of prophecy, especially to artists, underwrites much of "The Waste Land." Perhaps | ||
Eliot is indicating that he views himself as a poet-prophet, who writes his poetry-prophecies without care for their impact--merely because he must. | Eliot is indicating that he views himself as a poet-prophet, who writes his poetry-prophecies without care for their impact--merely because he must. | ||
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| + | == Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' == | ||
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| + | In exchange for her virginity, Apollo grants Sybil one wish. She wishes to live almost an infinitely long time, but forgets to ask for eternal youth. This particular portrayal of Sybil would most probably refer to the overall themes of fertility and sterility of the poem, and perhaps, refer to a culture that straggles on, but bears no new fruit, as Eliot sees it. | ||
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== Virgil's ''Fourth Eclogue'' == | == Virgil's ''Fourth Eclogue'' == | ||
