Exploring The Waste Land
An origin page linked from The Waste Land, Part I, line 25
In
The Waste Land
lines 25 through 30
are derived from an earlier, unpublished work of Eliot's entitled
The Death of Saint Narcissus
Compare
The Waste Land
- 25) There is shadow under this red rock,
- 26) (Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
- 27) And I will show you something different from either
- 28) Your shadow at morning striding behind you
- 29) Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
- 30) I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
with
The Death of Saint Narcissus
-
Come under the shadow of this grey rock
-
Come in under the shadow of this grey rock
-
And I will show you a shadow different from either
-
Your shadow sprawling over the sand at daybreak, or
-
Your shadow leaping behind the fire against the red rock:
-
I will show you his bloody cloth and limbs
-
And the grey shadow on his lips.
The draft versions of
The Death of Saint Narcissus
are available in the book
The Waste Land - A Facsimile and Transcript of the Original Drafts
Exploring The Waste Land
File name: oq025.html
File date: Sunday, September 29, 2002
[Home] [E-mail]