Death by Water

E111186

"Death by Water" is a brief, elegiac section of T. S. Eliot’s modernist poem *The Waste Land* that reflects on mortality and the destructive, purifying power of the sea.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Death by Water canonical 3

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf literary work ⓘ
poem section ⓘ
addresses the reader directly in its closing lines ⓘ
author T. S. Eliot ⓘ
belongsToCycle five-part structure of The Waste Land ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United Kingdom ⓘ
describes the death of Phlebas the Phoenician ⓘ
featuresCharacter Phlebas the Phoenician ⓘ
firstPublishedIn The Waste Land (1922 book edition) ⓘ
linked to: The Waste Land
genre modernist poetry ⓘ
hasCriticalReception widely studied in modernist literary criticism ⓘ
hasMotif forgetfulness ⓘ
shipwreck ⓘ
the turning of the tide ⓘ
imagery decay and dissolution ⓘ
drowning imagery ⓘ
sea imagery ⓘ
influencedBy classical elegy tradition ⓘ
mythic sea narratives ⓘ
language English ⓘ
literaryForm lyric ⓘ
literaryMovement Modernism ⓘ
meter free verse ⓘ
narrativePerspective third person ⓘ
partOf The Waste Land ⓘ
The Waste Land (poem) ⓘ
linked to: The Waste Land
positionInWork fourth section of The Waste Land ⓘ
publicationYear 1922 ⓘ
relatedWork A Game of Chess ⓘ
The Burial of the Dead ⓘ
linked to: The Waste Land

The Fire Sermon ⓘ
What the Thunder Said ⓘ
structure short lyric passage ⓘ
studiedFor its compressed, allusive style ⓘ
its treatment of death and renewal ⓘ
symbolism the sea as oblivion ⓘ
the sea as transformation ⓘ
water as destruction ⓘ
water as purification ⓘ
theme death ⓘ
destruction ⓘ
drowning ⓘ
mortality ⓘ
purification ⓘ
the fragility of human life ⓘ
the sea ⓘ
the transience of worldly achievements ⓘ
tone elegiac ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The Waste Land → section → Death by Water ⓘ
The Fire Sermon → followedBy → Death by Water ⓘ