Poetry · Chapter
V: What the Thunder Said explained
The final section of The Waste Land presents a desolate landscape of rock and drought, where the speaker longs for water.
What happens
The final section of The Waste Land presents a desolate landscape of rock and drought, where the speaker longs for water. A mysterious third figure walks beside the speaker, and visions of falling cities and a decaying chapel precede the arrival of rain. The thunder speaks the commands 'Datta,' 'Dayadhvam,' and 'Damyata,' urging giving, sympathy, and control. The poem concludes with fragmented allusions and the repeated Sanskrit word 'Shantih,' a prayer for peace.
Themes in this chapter
Spiritual Crisis and Desolation
The entire section is a landscape of spiritual drought—'rock without water,' 'dry sterile thunder without rain'—and the longing for redemption through the thunder's commands.
Fragmentation and Modernity
The poem's structure is deliberately fragmented, with shifting scenes, allusions, and languages (Sanskrit, Italian, French, Latin), mirroring the collapse of cultural unity.
Time and Mortality
The line 'He who was living is now dead / We who were living are now dying' underscores the pervasive sense of death and the passage of time.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator experiences the arid landscape, walks with a mysterious companion, and reflects on the thunder's commands.
- Tiresias
Tiresias is implicitly present as the unifying consciousness that has foresuffered all, including the scenes of desolation and the thunder's message.
Key passages
“Here is no water but only rock / Rock and no water and the sandy road”
The landscape is utterly dry and barren, offering no relief or sustenance.
This sets the scene of physical and spiritual drought that dominates the first part of the section.
“Who is the third who walks always beside you?”
A mysterious, hooded figure accompanies the speaker and their companion on the journey.
This line alludes to the journey to Emmaus in the Bible, suggesting a possible divine presence.
“Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata.”
The thunder speaks three commands: Give, Sympathize, Control.
These Sanskrit words from the Upanishads encapsulate the moral and spiritual lessons the speaker must learn.
“Shantih shantih shantih”
Peace, peace, peace.
The poem ends with a traditional Upanishadic benediction, a prayer for inner and universal peace.