The Waste Land

BY T. S. ELIOT

‘Nam Sibyllam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis meis vidi in ampulla pendere, et cum illi pueri dicerent: Σίβυλλα τί θέλεις; respondebat illa: άποθανεîν θέλω.’

     For Ezra Pound
       il miglior fabbro.

I. The Burial of the Dead

II. A Game of Chess

III. The Fire Sermon

IV. Death by Water

Peter Paul Rubens

We see a cascade of bodies falling through the central point of the painting, a heavenly light shining from the left hand top corner of the piece. The Archangel Michael (you can spot him as he is in a blue tunic and red cape with a weapon and a shield) appears to be driving the bodies downwards with assistance of other winged angels.