The Waste Land: "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot

by T.S. Eliot
Considered a classic of Modernist literature, this unpredictable poem is a collage of voices and languages that explores British society and myths of devastated civilizations. Read the full text here.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. colonnade
    structure consisting of a row of evenly spaced columns
    Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
    With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
    And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
    And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
  2. profusion
    the property of being extremely abundant
    The glitter of her jewels rose to meet it,
    From satin cases poured in rich profusion.
  3. unguent
    preparation applied externally as a remedy or for soothing
    In vials of ivory and coloured glass
    Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes,
    Unguent, powdered, or liquid—troubled, confused
    And drowned the sense in odours
  4. sylvan
    relating to or characteristic of wooded regions
    Above the antique mantel was displayed
    As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene
    The change of Philomel
  5. inviolable
    immune to attack; incapable of being tampered with
    yet there the nightingale
    Filled all the desert with inviolable voice
    And still she cried, and still the world pursues
  6. divan
    a long backless sofa, usually with pillows
    On the divan are piled (at night her bed)
    Stockings, slippers, camisoles, and stays.
  7. propitious
    presenting favorable circumstances
    The time is now propitious, as he guesses
  8. inexplicable
    incapable of being explained or accounted for
    Where fishmen lounge at noon: where the walls
    Of Magnus Martyr hold
    Inexplicable splendour of Ionian white and gold.
  9. leeward
    on the side away from the wind
    Red sails
    Wide
    To leeward, swing on the heavy spar.
  10. supine
    lying face upward
    By Richmond I raised my knees
    Supine on the floor of a narrow canoe.
  11. reverberation
    an echo
    After the torchlight red on sweaty faces
    After the frosty silence in the gardens
    After the agony in stony places
    The shouting and the crying
    Prison and palace and reverberation
    Of thunder of spring over distant mountains
  12. lamentation
    a cry of sorrow and grief
    What is that sound high in the air
    Murmur of maternal lamentation
  13. reminiscent
    serving to bring to mind
    And upside down in air were towers
    Tolling reminiscent bells, that kept the hours
    And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells.
  14. prudence
    discretion in practical affairs
    My friend, blood shaking my heart
    The awful daring of a moment’s surrender
    Which an age of prudence can never retract
  15. beneficent
    doing or producing good
    By this, and this only, we have existed
    Which is not to be found in our obituaries
    Or in memories draped by the beneficent spider
    Or under seals broken by the lean solicitor
    In our empty rooms
Created on Fri Nov 17 13:34:05 EST 2017 (updated Wed Aug 06 16:10:05 EDT 2025)

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