University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 1-1-1963 T. S. Eliot's 'Ash-Wednesday'. Peter Anthony Wilson University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Wilson, Peter Anthony, "T. S. Eliot's 'Ash-Wednesday'." (1963). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 6338. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/6338 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). Under this license, works must always be attributed to the copyright holder (original author), cannot be used for any commercial purposes, and may not be altered. Any other use would require the permission of the copyright holder. Students may inquire about withdrawing their dissertation and/or thesis from this database. For additional inquiries, please contact the repository administrator via email ([email protected]) or by telephone at 519-253-3000ext. 3208. NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. UMI ® Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. T. S. ELIOT'S 'ASH-WEDNESDAY': Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies Through the Department of English in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at Assumption University of Windsor by PETER ANTHONY WILSON B.A., Assumption University of Windsor, 1957 B.Ed., University of Toronto, 1963:, Windsor, Ontario, Canada 1963 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. 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Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1 Approved by: f'Lxl, / > 73 7J.& Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my gratitude for the encouragement and assistance given to me by the members of the Faculty of . Assumption University. In particular, I thank Rev. C. P. Crowley, C. S. B., Ph.D., Dean of Graduate Studies; Dr. Mary Manley, who directed me in preparing this study; Rev. L. A. McCann, C.S.B., S.T.D., and Mr. Eugene J. McNamara, M.A., who read the manuscript and offered valuable criticism. My list of thanks would not be complete without mention of the kindness of Mr. W. F. Dollar, M.A., A.M.L.S., and the staff of Assumption University Library, and of Miss Elizabeth Magee, B.A.:, B.L.S., and the staff of Carnegie Public Library, Windsor. I am also greatly indebted to Mrs. H. Haberer for typing the manuscript at the eleventh hour. Peter Anthony Wilson May, 1963 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT In the poetic career of Mr. T. S. Eliot between The Waste Land and Four Quartets a definite pattern of develop­ ment can be detected in the poet's thought and technique. His concern with religious themes is brought out in the short dramatic lyrics of the ‘Ariel Poems', but the first of his poems to explore this area is 'Ash-Wednesday'. In a coherent sequence of six poems the author traces the path of religious conversion and conveys through his unique versification the intensity of the experience recorded. In this study, my purpose is to show that Mr, Eliot's tech­ nical devices provide a structural frame for the poem that is closely related to the tradition of Christian worship. In corroboration of this view, the poet’s thematic use of reli­ gious motifs, imagery and allusions is examined in relation to his scriptural, liturgical and literary sources. This analysis serves to point out that each part of the sequence can be correlated with disciplinary practices prescribed for Christians during Lent. The aesthetic and the spiritual power of the poem is the result of controlled construction in uni­ fying an intellectual approach with religious sensibility. ‘Ash-Wednesday’ presents diagrammatically Mr. Eliot’s perspec­ tive in The Idea of a Christian Society: man’s need of spirit­ ual guidance in the struggle for salvation and ultimate peace. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTERS Page I INTRODUCTION . 1 II APPROACH TO THE MEANING 6 III RESPONSE TO THE CALL 15 IN THE DESERT IV THE TURNING 25 THE NEW YEARS V THE WORD AND THE WORLD *fl THE TIME OF TENSION VI CONCLUSION 56 BIBLIOGRAPHY 62 VITA AUCTORIS o9 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I INTRODUCTION In the immense amount of critical opinion on Mr. Eliot's poetry written between The Waste Land (1921) and Four Quartets (19^3) we find constant reference to the change in his poetic tone and technique from the level of empirical involvement to one of spiritual awareness."^ It was during this period that •Ash-Wednesday* as a whole was published in 1930. However,' no commentator has explored what seems to be its structural principle, namely the relevance of the poem to the liturgy of 2 the Lenten season. In theme, structure and texture, the poem has liturgical and allegorical significance; each part of the sequence shows close correspondence with the ancient ritual by which the Church provides spiritual training in a solemn observance of prayer and penance. The poem reflects the mood and spirit of Lent; it is a vehicle in which the personal and integrated expressions of the speaker's thoughts are inter- 1 See Helen Gardner, The Art of T. S. Eliot (London, 19^9)» P* 100: "Instead of looking out upon the world and seeing sharply defined and various manifestations of the same desolation and emptiness, the poet turns away from the outer world of men to ponder over certain intimate personal experiences. He narrows the range of his vision, withdraws into his own mind, and 'thus devoted, concentrated in purpose’ his verse moves 'into another intensity'. The intensity of apprehension in the earlier poetry is replaced by an intensity of meditation." 2 Comparison of the prayers and scriptural narratives prescribed for public worship during Lent shows that with few exceptions Collects, Epistles and Gospels are the same in the Roman Missal and the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. Significant differences will be noted in my discussion of each one of the poems of the sequence. * 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 woven to depict with concentrated meaning the penitential 6 experience. 'Ash-Wednesday* marks a turning point in the poet's outlook; the conscious use of the sacramental rite is a i heightening of the religious tone that is so evident in the poems that preceded('Journey of the Magi', 'Mariana'), and that predominates in Four Quartets. It is evident that the critics in general are aware of the personal and religious allusions that occur in 'Ash-Wednesday'. The title of the poem is recognized by some to be fundamental to the themes self-discipline at that period of time set aside by the Church for fasting and penance in atonement for sin. Mrs. DuncanrJones, among others, has noted this aspect of the poem: The title under which the six poems now stand prepares us for poetry concerned mainly with the penitential side of the spiritual life: and the first poem deals with the processes of self-exploration and self-examination with which that begins.3 But whereas Mrs. Duncan-Jones sees Mr. Eliot's poem as'imperson­ al and objective', I feel that it is intensely personal in the thematic development of the 'confessional-' experience and that it is also 'objective' because the poet uses a framework of traditional worship. For Miss Elizabeth Drew the poem records an "intensely personal emotion" within its "own esthetic world.,,1+ Mr. 3 E.E. Duncan-Jones, "Ash-Wednesday", in T.S. Eliot: A Study of His Writings by Several Hands, ed. B. Rajan TNew York, I9V 8 ),p. 39. See also Elizabeth Drew, T.S. Eliot: The Design of His Poetry (New York, 19*+9)* p. 100; George Williamson, Jl Reader *s Guide to T.S. Eliot (New York, 1953)* p. 101. *+ Op. clt., p. 100. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3 Allen Tate, commenting on •Ash-Wednesday*, seems to miss the mark when he writes: If the six poems are taken together as the focus of a specific religious emotion, the opening stanza, instead of being a naive personal ••confession,” appears in the less lurid light of a highly effective technical performance.? For Miss Gardner, the six poems have neither structural unity nor detectable relationship; she notes that the first three poems were rearranged when the whole work was published and comments on lack of development of the theme: The first three poems originally appeared separately in periodicals and not in the order in which they appear in the volume.