Jake Svitek
British Literature
Mr. Youngs
Pd.2
The Wasteland by T.S Eliot
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.
In this excerpt from T.S Eliot’s The Wasteland titled Death by Water, the author is
telling the story of a man who had died at sea. The story is about Phlebas the
Phoenician and how he forgets his worldly cares as he is being eaten away at by sea
creatures. Eliot challenges us to think about Phlebas’s mortality and to really step back
for a moment to examine our own.
This section of the poem starts out with lines 313 through 315 as the author
writes “Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead, Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep
sea swell And the profit and loss”. In these three lines the author is saying that the
character has died and in doing so he becomes completely immune to worldly things as
insignificant as the sound of seagulls but also things like making money. In that very
moment as he looses his life all the things that have been relevant to his life almost
cease to exist as he fades away from the world and all of its cares.
Next, there are lines 116 though 119. “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”. This passage could be interpreted to mean that as the mans body is being
picked away and destroyed by the sea the mans morality is still there. Even though he
is just a floating pile of lifeless flesh his years of existence were still significant in one
way or another. This really makes the reader examine life and how truly significant and
important it is as well as the incredible amount of value that it holds.
Finally, this section of the poem closes off with lines 120 through 122. “Gentile or
Jew O you who turn the wheel and look to windward, Consider Phlebas, who was once
handsome and tall as you”. In these lines, Eliot is referring to the fact that all people will
die. He makes a reference to Christians and Jews to point out the fact that it doesn’t
matter what you believe at some point in time your existence on earth will end. He then
goes on to end this part of the poem by comparing Phlebas to us as readers. Again,
Eliot is trying to make us take a step back and really put some thought into our
existence and what it means. He is essentially saying that what has happened to the
character of the poem could and even some day will be us.
This excerpt from The Wasteland is based around the concept of morality and its
significance. Eliot tells a short and simple story of a man who has simply done nothing
other than die. However, in doing so Phlebas has showed us that life is limited and the
humanity we have is a very valuable thing.