엘리엇의 시에 나타난 물의 심상

Abstract

The four elements, each of which accounts for the main subject matter or motif of the respective parts of Four Quartets, are interdependent on or supplementary of the others for the corroboration of the message the poem is intended to carry. They all come from Heraclitus’ understanding of how the world is constituted and operates. He assumes that earth changes into water in the rising phase while water into earth in falling; in each phase the relevant element qualifies the world then. Naturally, “The Dry Salvages,” where Eliot focuses on water, follows “East Coker,” the main element of which part is earth. However, the water motif is not a new entry in Four Quartets, but Eliot resorts to water for many similar associations in his previous works including The Waste Land, Ash Wednesday and earlier in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” Eliot tries to express in all of these works how water is associated with death or rebirth in both physical and symbolical senses “The Dry Salvages” addresses water, entailing various possible interpretations on how human beings can access the Incarnation and follow Its meaning. In the first movement of “Dry Salvages,” Eliot shows how a river regulates human life as an unavoidable and irresistible force in associations with his personal childhood experience. He proceeds to advise how the sea is parallel in its characteristics with time in that it contains human life and defies human efforts, ultimately reclaiming all the human existences. Human existence is allowed no breakthrough from the meaningless cycle of birth, decay and death if it finds no divine redemption. Eliot exhorts readers to know the timeless world and seek salvation from the time-bound existence. However, water is not accorded the ultimate value or status in Eliot’s poetry, where it shares many qualities with women or femininity.