1. T.S. Eliot “Mermaids Singing, Each to Each”

2. The river’s tent is broken... The nymphs are departed. Sweet Thames, run softly till I end my song, Sweet Thames, run softly, for I speak not loud or long. But at my back in a cold blast I hear The rattle of the bones, and chuckle spread from ear to ear. Eliot, The Waste Land, ll. 183-6

3. “Mermaids Singing, Each to Each” A rat crept softly through the vegetation Dragging its slimy belly on the bank While I was fishing in the dull canal On a winter evening round behind the gashouse Musing upon the king my brother’s wreck And on the king my father’s death before him. White bodies naked on the low damp ground And bones cast in a little low dry garret, Rattled by the rat’s foot only, year to year. But at my back from time to time I hear The sound of horns and motors, which will bring Sweeney to Mrs. Porter in the spring. Eliot, The Waste Land, ll. 187-98

4. Odysseus questioning Tiresias “Mermaids Singing, Each to Each” At the violet hour, when the eyes and back Turn upward from the desk, when the human engine waits Like a taxi throbbing waiting, I Tiresias, though blind, throbbing between two lives, Old man with wrinkled female breasts, can see At the violet hour, the evening hour that strives Homeward, and brings the sailor home from sea, The typist home at teatime, clears her breakfast, lights Her stove, and lays out food in tins. Eliot, The Waste Land, ll. 215-23

5. “Mermaids Singing, Each to Each” The time is now propitious, as he guesses; The meal is ended, she is bored and tired. Endeavors to engage her in caresses Which still are unreproved, if undesired. Flushed and decided, he assaults at once; Exploring hands encounter no defense.; His vanity requires no response, And makes a welcome of indifference. (And I Tiresias have foresuffered all Enacted on this same divan or bed; I who have sat by Thebes below the wall And walked among the lowest of the dead.) Bestows one final patronizing kiss, And gropes his way, finding the stairs unlit. Eliot, The Waste Land, ll. 235-48 ROMEO If I profane with my unworthiest hand This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss. JULIET Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, Which mannerly devotion shows in this; For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss. ROMEO Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too? JULIET Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer. ROMEO O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do; They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair. JULIET Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake. ROMEO Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take. Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, I. v. 95-12

6. “Mermaids Singing, Each to Each” “Greenwich Reach,” Roy Hammond Isle of Dogs The barges wash Drifting logs Down Greenwich reach Past the Isle of Dogs. Weialala leia Eliot, The Waste Land, ll. 273-8

7. “Mermaids Singing, Each to Each” “Storm on Margate Sands,” J. M. W. Turner (1820) ‘ On Margate Sands. I can connect Nothing with nothing. The broken fingernails of dirty hands. My people humble people who expect Nothing.’ la la Eliot, The Waste Land, ll. 300-6

8. “Mermaids Singing, Each to Each” The Buddha gave a sermon on fire to Uruvela Kassapa, Nadi Kassapa, Gaya Kassapa, as well as their 1000 disciples, and made them all attain Arahatship. To Carthage then I came Burning burning burning burning O Lord Thou pluckest me out O Lord Thou pluckest burning Eliot, The Waste Land, ll. 308-11

9. “Mermaids Singing, Each to Each” “Phlebas the Phoenician, A Fortnight Dead” Diane Fenster, 2000 A current under sea Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell He passed the stages of his age and youth, Entering the whirlpool Eliot, The Waste Land, ll. 315-18

10. “Mermaids Singing, Each to Each” “Four Scenes from the Passion” follower of Barend van Orley, 1520 After the torchlight red on sweaty faces After the frosty silence in the gardens After the agony in stony places The shouting and the crying Prison and palace and reverberation Of thunder of spring over distant mountains He who was living is now dead We who were living are now dying With a little patience Eliot, The Waste Land, ll. 322-30

11. “Mermaids Singing, Each to Each” Mt. Sinai And no rock If there were rock And also water And water A spring A pool among the rock If there were the sound of water only Not the cicada And dry grass singing But sound of water over a rock Where the hermit-thrush sings in the pine trees Drip drop drip drop drop drop drop But there is no water. Eliot, The Waste Land, ll. 347-59

12. “Mermaids Singing, Each to Each” JerusalemAthens Vienna London Alexandria

13. Sir Galahad approaching the Chapel Perilous “Mermaids Singing, Each to Each” In this decayed hole among the mountains In the faint moonlight, the grass is singing Over the tumbled graves, about the chapel There is the empty chapel, only the wind's home. It has no windows, and the door swings, Dry bones can harm no one. Only a cock stood on the rooftree Co co rico co co rico In a flash of lightning. Then a damp gust Bringing rain. Eliot, the Waste Land, ll. 385-94

14. Prajapati “Mermaids Singing, Each to Each” DA The creator God Prajapati utters this syllable to three groups. Humans (the greedy ones) interpreted is as “give” (Datta) Demons (the cruel ones) interpreted it as “be compassionate” (Dayadhvam) Lesser gods (the unruly ones) interpreted it as “control yourselves” (Damyata) Hence the three virtues: charity, mercy, control Eliot, The Waste Land, ll. 401ff

15. A medieval design of the Fisher King “Mermaids Singing, Each to Each” I sat upon the shore Fishing, with the arid plain behind me Shall I at least set my lands in order? London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down... These fragments I have shored against my ruins Why then Ile fit you. Hieronymo’s mad againe. Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata. Shantihshantihshantih Eliot, The Waste Land, ll. 423-6

16. you broke another mirror, you're turning into something you are not “Mermaids Singing, Each to Each” Taittirya Upanishad