Murder in the Cathedral - T. S. Eliot
Part 1
Set in 1170, December 2nd.
● ‘The land became brown sharp points of death in a waste of water and mud.’ The
changing of seasons and months marks the death of the earth. Harsh imagery.
● The opening chorus has a melancholic tone.
● ‘Winter shall come bringing death from the sea.’ Two meanings - the death of
poor people suffering in the cold weather or the death of the earth as it turns icy.
● ‘End will be simple, sudden, God-given. Meanwhile, the substance of our first act
will be shadows and the strife with shadows.’ Shortly after the Archbishop returns
to Canterbury, he breaks the fourth wall by referencing parts of a play. The
meaning behind it remains that he is preaching on what is to come. Subtle
imagery of death as the ‘end.’ This line suggests that it is simple but before the
end, there will be ‘shadows’ suggesting that the worst is perhaps yet to come.
● ‘Eating up the darkness, with wit and wine and wisdom!’ Illustrating ways of
ignoring the fact that there is a bleakness to Canterbury.
● ‘Your sin soars sunward, covering King’s falcons.’ Alliteration makes the tone of
revelation harsher. Stating that the Archbishop has committed a sin, the use of
‘sunward’ is suggestive of it reaching heaven and God.
● ‘Think, Thomas, think of glory after death. When King is dead, there’s another
King, [...] King is forgotten when another shall come.’ Irony in this line as the
tempter evokes the idea of glory after death but he also states that when a new
King reigns, the previous King is forgotten as if there can be no glory for him.
● ‘That nothing lasts, but the wheel turns, the rest is rifled, and the bird mourns.’
Two ways of experiencing mourning, life goes on vs life moves on quickly like the
turn of a wheel or death causes a vulnerable action.
Part 2
1170, December 29th.
● ‘The owl rehearses the hollow note of death.’ Owls are a symbol of death and
hollow is suggestive of the devil.
Part 1
Set in 1170, December 2nd.
● ‘The land became brown sharp points of death in a waste of water and mud.’ The
changing of seasons and months marks the death of the earth. Harsh imagery.
● The opening chorus has a melancholic tone.
● ‘Winter shall come bringing death from the sea.’ Two meanings - the death of
poor people suffering in the cold weather or the death of the earth as it turns icy.
● ‘End will be simple, sudden, God-given. Meanwhile, the substance of our first act
will be shadows and the strife with shadows.’ Shortly after the Archbishop returns
to Canterbury, he breaks the fourth wall by referencing parts of a play. The
meaning behind it remains that he is preaching on what is to come. Subtle
imagery of death as the ‘end.’ This line suggests that it is simple but before the
end, there will be ‘shadows’ suggesting that the worst is perhaps yet to come.
● ‘Eating up the darkness, with wit and wine and wisdom!’ Illustrating ways of
ignoring the fact that there is a bleakness to Canterbury.
● ‘Your sin soars sunward, covering King’s falcons.’ Alliteration makes the tone of
revelation harsher. Stating that the Archbishop has committed a sin, the use of
‘sunward’ is suggestive of it reaching heaven and God.
● ‘Think, Thomas, think of glory after death. When King is dead, there’s another
King, [...] King is forgotten when another shall come.’ Irony in this line as the
tempter evokes the idea of glory after death but he also states that when a new
King reigns, the previous King is forgotten as if there can be no glory for him.
● ‘That nothing lasts, but the wheel turns, the rest is rifled, and the bird mourns.’
Two ways of experiencing mourning, life goes on vs life moves on quickly like the
turn of a wheel or death causes a vulnerable action.
Part 2
1170, December 29th.
● ‘The owl rehearses the hollow note of death.’ Owls are a symbol of death and
hollow is suggestive of the devil.
