Wasteland: A barren or desolate area of land, not or no longer used for cultivation or building. a region, period in history, etc, that is considered spiritually, intellectually, or aesthetically barren or desolate ⇒ ■ American television is a cultural wasteland. –Google
T.S. Elliot, the author of one of the most influential poems of the 20th century, “The Wasteland“, was deeply bothered by what western culture had become. The Wasteland was an expression of that. Thankfully, his lack of hope didn’t last.
A quote from his poem, “The Four Quartets“:
I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope
For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love
For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith
but the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.
Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:
So the darkness shall be the light and the stillness, the dancing.
Do you believe that western culture has become somewhat of a cultural wasteland? Have you ever read any of T.S. Elliot’s poetry?
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