THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD
T. S. Eliot · 1922
Line 20. Cf. _Ezekiel_ 2:1.
23. Cf. _Ecclesiastes_ 12:5.
31. V. _Tristan und Isolde_, i, verses 5-8.
42. Id. iii, verse 24.
46. I am not familiar with the exact constitution of the Tarot
pack of cards, from which I have obviously departed to suit my
own convenience. The Hanged Man, a member of the traditional
pack, fits my purpose in two ways: because he is associated in
my mind with the Hanged God of Frazer, and because I associate
him with the hooded figure in the passage of the disciples to
Emmaus in Part V. The Phoenician Sailor and the Merchant appear
later; also the “crowds of people,” and Death by Water is
executed in Part IV. The Man with Three Staves (an authentic
member of the Tarot pack) I associate, quite arbitrarily, with
the Fisher King himself.
60. Cf. Baudelaire:
“Fourmillante cité, cité; pleine de rêves,
Où le spectre en plein jour raccroche le passant.”
63. Cf. _Inferno_, iii. 55-7.
“si lunga tratta
di gente, ch’io non avrei mai creduto
che morte tanta n’avesse disfatta.”
64. Cf. _Inferno_, iv. 25-7:
“Quivi, secondo che per ascoltare,
“non avea pianto, ma’ che di sospiri,
“che l’aura eterna facevan tremare.”
68. A phenomenon which I have often noticed.
74. Cf. the Dirge in Webster’s _White Devil_.
76. V. Baudelaire, Preface to _Fleurs du Mal_.