Portrayal of Man’s Sorrows, Impotence, and Lack of Spirituality through Flowering Judas, Dogwood, Chestnut, Hyacinths, and Lilacs in T.S. Eliot’s Poems: A Textual and Analytical Study
Mariwan Hasan
Sulaimani University
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25130/lang.8.1.19
Keywords: T.S. Eliot, “Gerontion”, “The Waste Land”, rebirth, floristic imagery in poetry, „flowering Judas, chestnut, dogwood, hyacinths, lilacs
Abstract
- S. Eliot's poetry contains several floral references that are employed symbolically. This study investigates the symbolic connotations of T. S. Eliot's floristic symbolism in “Gerontion” and 'The Waste Land'. The form and essence of modernist symbols will be investigated to trigger profound and subconscious feelings in the reader, concentrating on the terminological and conceptual elements of the topic. The significance of flowering Judas, dogwood, chestnut, hyacinth, and lilac in Eliot's “Gerontion” and “The Waste Land” have been interpreted and explored using analytical, historical, and archetypal approaches as the “Gerontion” intended by the poet to be a prelude to “The Waste Land”. Textual and analytical research has been conducted to demonstrate the unusual utilisation of five flora referred to in ''Gerontion'' and ''The Waste Land''. The poems' texts and theoretical and historical sources have been examined to collect the required data for the paper. One of the most essential research objectives of the paper is to find out how these blossoms were used symbolically in two of Eliot's poems. In various contexts of the poem (historical, biographical, mythological, cultural, anthropological, etc.), the symbolic and common meanings of each flower has been investigated.
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