t.s. eliot, selected lines
April is the cruelest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. -opening lines of the waste land Time present and time past Are both perhaps present in time future, And time future contained in time past. If all time is eternally present -from burnt norton, i, opening. Not knowing what to feel or if I understand This music was successful with a ‘dying fall’ Now that we talk of dying- Should I have the right to smile? -from portrait of a lady, final movement selected lines, slightly edited Because I know that time is always time And place is always and only place And what is actual is actual only for one time And only for one place -opening lines of ash wednesday The whole earth is our hospital Endowed by the ruined millionaire, Wherein, if we do well, we shall Die of the absolute paternal care [...] The wounded surgeon plies the steel That questions the distempered part; Beneath the bleeding hands we feel The sharp compassion of the healer's art Resolving the enigma of the fever chart. [...] There is no choice between the quick and the dead But only between the dying and the dead. -east coker, iv We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. -little gidding, v Because I do not hope to know again The infirm glory of the positive hour Because I do not hope to turn again -ash wednesday, iv The memory throws up high and dry A crowd of twisted things; A twisted branch upon the beach Stiff and white. -rhapsody on a winter night