Part IV: Death by Water
TextIV. Death by Water
Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead, Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep sea swell And the profit and loss. A current under sea Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell He passed the stages of his age and youth Entering the whirlpool. Gentile or Jew O you who turn the wheel and look to windward, Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you |
NotesA fortnight is equal to 2 weeks This line can be associated with watching your life flicker through your eyes in the moment before death The third stanza is a call to people of any religion to value life and to be mindful of it, because someday you will die. Phlebas becomes a cautionary figure in that everyone dies and we must live life to its fullest while we can. |
Technical DevicesTechnical Device: Rhythmed Pairs > Eliot uses rhyming pairs, like swell and fell, at the end of a few lines Technical Device: Imagery > Eliot describes a man who has drowning and is entering a whirlpool where his bones are being picked apart by the creatures of the sea. |
Part IV Paraphrased
Part IV. Death by Water is the shortest of the five parts in "The Wasteland". Eliot describes in the text, a man called Phlebas the Phoenician, who has drowned in the sea where his body has been picked apart and eaten by sea creatures. Eliot expresses in the final stanza, the importance of valuing life, because, like Phlebas, everyone will die eventually, so you might as well live your life how you want to.