The Four Quartets - Part Two

So here is a more analytical look at T.S. Eliot's The Four Quartets, mostly in relation to its form, structure and the motifs used. I'll also look at some of the meaning within each of the quartets.

If you have read some of Eliot's poetry, you'll have noticed that most of his work builds upon something that he has written previously. The structure of The Four Quartets is as a whole very similar to that of The Wasteland, with the four separate movements. However, The Four Quartets deviates in similarity from The Wasteland in the way that each quartet has within it its own five movements each with a unique structure.

The structure of the five movements of each of the quartets follows these guidelines:
I. Makes a statement of some kind that is then countered. The movement is written in blank verse and builds upon a contradiction that the quartet is to reconcile by its end.

II. Shows the links between the quartets and often opens with a lyrical type passage. Is then followed by a colloquil idea that becomes a metaphor or symbol applicable to one's personal life. Toned to be like a dialogue between people and divided into two parts.

III. Is the core of each quartet and twists the ideas previously put forth in the first and second movements.

IV. Is a lyric. Here we see the rhyme scheme that I mentioned in my previous post. The rhyme pattern is simple and easy to identify, yet for some reason I was unable to notice the pattern until I was reading Little Gidding. Only upon re-reading the poem did I discover that the rhyme pattern truly existed throughout the fourth movement of each quartet.

V. Also divided into two parts like the second movement but the colloquial tone come first in this movement. The rhythem of the poem also becomes tighter and grave. Tries to recapture the themes of the quartet and makes a resolution of the first movement.

All of the quartets are about the same themes: relation of time to eternity and the meaning of history. These themes are very common within Eliot's other work. Within each quartet, these themes are handled differently in terms of the images and metaphors used.

Just a quick a side note on the quartets in general. Initially the quartets were published separately as stand alone poems, hence the different titles for each quartet! The names themselves are also significant since they are all places.

Eliot selected the locations for various reasons, some having personal significance, but mostly he was focused on the landscape and the emotion linked with the feeling of that place. Burnt Norton is a manor house that has been deserted, while East Coker is a Somersetshire village. Dry Salvages are a group of rocky islands that Eliot would have been familiar with in his youth. Finally, Little Gidding is a village in Huntingdonshire. From this little blurb on where the names of the quartets were derived, we can see how the imagery that Eliot uses matches the background information of each location.

Burnt Norton:
- evokes feelings of being enclosed through the image of an abandonned home with a rose garden. The imagery is of a civilized social nature that is mixed with ideas of cultural history. There is no evidence of dogma here because it is felt at this point that theology can provide an answer to human experience. By the close of this poem, there is a realization of an ever present end.

East Coker:
- the setting is of a village that is filled with human history but is less civilized than the mansion seen in Burnt Norton. The image of the sea is seen as one of desolation, release and escape. Life is also seen as a rhythm or cycles (the seasons) contrasted against the idea of rest. The idea of darkness is prevailent here, with the hopes that it will hide humanity but really it reveals what we try to hide. Now there is a concern with the response to the human experience of loss.

- in my own view, in the IV movement of this poem, there is a heavy sense of dogma. I got that idea from the overtly religious over tones that are displayed here. Anyone have any thoughts?

Dry Salvages:
- again we have the image of the sea, but this time it represents a sense of longing. This image is contrasted against the idea of the river of life. The river is used to represent the life of man, while the flow shows the seasons of life. This link to nature acts as a reminder of what we want to forget - our past. Ultimately we can't forget the past but only learn from it.

- in my view, the idea of history is also explored here in the II movement. With the mention of: "Like the river with its cargo of dead negroes" and then "The bitter apple, and the bite in the apple". I took the reference to the river with the dead to be a metaphorical link to the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, where millions of slaves were transported from their homes in Africa. Often a high number would have died in the crossing of the ocean and their bodied would be dumped into the ocean. I took the reference to the apple to be one of the Garden of Eden. Where Eve is pursuaded by the snake to eat the apple from the tree of knowledge, which she then offers to Adam. Upon eating the apple, the pair gained knowledge but its a bitter reward since they are now kicked out of paradise and must suffer the burden of knowledge.

Little Gidding:
- speaks of death and decay, and is far more gloomy than the other poems. The sybolism of the other poems comes to a peak here, with the description of an episode in history (the last bomb of the war and the declaration of all clear). The theme of love is embodied in the flames to be either self-love or god's. With the last line we come full circle to where we began our journey, in the garden at Burnt Norton.

sv

Resources:

Helen L. Gardner, "The Four Quartets: A Commentary". Taken from T.S. Eliot: A Study of his Writing by Several Hands, editted by B. Rajan. New York: Haskell House Publishers Ltd., 1947.