Back in 2013, with a remnant of a cold, I read T. S. Eliot’s Ash Wednesday.
It’s interesting to go back to that post and see the comments. For example, Supertradmum is no longer with us. Say a prayer for the repose of her soul. There are names of some commentators we haven’t see around for a while.
“Ash Wednesday” is structured in six parts. Eliot draws heavily on biblical imagery, especially Marian symbolism and allusions to Dante. The recurring figure of the Lady indicates intercession and purification. Eliot’s fragmented syntax and repetition are suggestive of the soul’s struggle toward belief. Ash-Wednesday dramatizes the arduous, grace-dependent movement from spiritual dryness toward tentative hope.
The 1930) poem marks a decisive turn in T. S. Eliot’s career, written after his reception into the Church of England in 1927. (Imagine what he would think of it now! He’d be Catholic for sure.) Unlike the desolation of The Waste Land, this poem is situated in the difficult terrain of conversion. Its voice is halting, liturgical, echoing the cadences of prayer. The famous opening, “Because I do not hope to turn again,” establishes a mood of renunciation: worldly ambition, carnal attachments, and intellectual pride are relinquished in favor of spiritual purgation.
Fr. Timothy Ferguson on ASK FATHER: Ashes On Very Small Children, Babies? – PRIESTS invited to comment especially: “I think the memories of children are often deep – deeper than we give credit, even if the warp and…”
Loading ...
