Lucas GrantStreblowAP Literature and Composition5. April 2012

Burnt Norton

First I want to state that I have in no way analyzed this poem to the extent that others

before me have. Yet it seems as though I know exactly what it is about. T S Eliot has a way of

making his readers completely baffled as to what is happening in his poetry and yet we are able

to take away some sense of understanding from his poetry. The epigraphs really sum up the

entire poem in a simplistic way, the first being translated as “Though wisdom is common, the

many live as if they have wisdom of their own” and the second “the way upward and the way

downward is one and the same” The second in particular stands out because of its paradoxical

statement, which sustains itself throughout not just Burnt Norton but all of T S Eliot’s quartets as

well. This poem resonates with me because I have experienced this feeling time being sloped

into a soup that is all sloshed together. This poem seems to be a reminder that there are people

who have lived before us and who will live after us. It is also a reminder of our affect on the

world while we are here, the pool is empty and “human kind cannot bear the reality,” this being a

very picturesque scene of Eden. Later in the poem we descend into a hellish place of darkness

that only continues to darken. This section in particular bears the other reality that it seems

humans are facing. What this reality actually is, is not explicitly explained which allows for us

as readers to project our own sense of meaning onto it. Even from a less religious standpoint,

there are certain things that cause us to descend into a hellish state here on earth, such as war.

This poems ability to sing is what attracts me to it the most for it is very musical, even

carrying motifs of music and dance. Its meaning is one I am still working to figure out this very

day and will continue figuring out until I simply give up- a nice aspect of Eliot’s work.

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