# Burbank with a Baedeker: Bleistein with a Cigar explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by T. S. Eliot.

## What happens

The poem juxtaposes the decay of Venetian grandeur with the vulgarity of modern commerce, as Burbank, a cultured tourist, encounters the crass Bleistein and the faded Princess Volupine, reflecting on the ruin of time and the loss of nobility.

## Themes in this chapter

### Time and Mortality

The poem meditates on 'Time's ruins' and the decline of once-great civilizations, symbolized by the decaying palace and the 'smoky candle end of time.'

### Fragmentation and Modernity

The juxtaposition of high culture (Canaletto, the gondola) with vulgar modernity (Bleistein's crude posture, the rats) highlights the fragmentation of contemporary life.

## Character check-ins

### Princess Volupine

Arrives at the small hotel, extends a meager hand to climb the waterstair, and entertains Sir Ferdinand Klein.

### Unknown Narrator

Observes and narrates the scene, including Burbank's thoughts on time's ruins.

## Key lines

> The smoky candle end of time / Declines.

The last remnants of time dwindle like a guttering candle.

_Evokes the theme of mortality and the end of an era._

> The rats are underneath the piles. / The jew is underneath the lot.

Rats scurry beneath the foundation of Venice, and the Jewish figure is at the bottom of society.

_Reflects the poem's anti-Semitic undertones and the decay of the city._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_21_se/chapters/burbank-with-a-baedeker-bleistein-with-a-cigar
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_21_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_21_se/chapters