The Waste Land | Summary
I. Burial of the Dead
The first section, as the section title indicates, is about death. The section begins with the words “April is the cruellest month,” which is perhaps one of the most remarked upon and most important references in the poem. Those familiar with Chaucer’s poem The Canterbury Tales will recognize that Eliot is taking Chaucer’s introductory line from the prologue—which is optimistic about the month of April and the regenerative, life-giving season of spring—and turning it on its head. Just as Chaucer’s line sets the tone for The...
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