THE
WASTE
LAND
::
T. S.
ELIOT
POEM MAP ENDNOTES SOURCES ABOUT

The Waste Land

Line 202

Et O ces voix d'enfants, chantant dans la coupole!

Eliot's Note

202. V. Verlaine, Parsifal.

Context

In the poem “Parsifal”, Paul Verlaine writes of the deeds of Percival, the knight who heals the Fisher King in the Grail legend. “Parsifal” summarizes the story of Percival and the king:

He has healed the king and now a king, in his pride,
He has himself become — priest of the Holy Grail

The lines cited by Eliot are from the end of the poem:

And O those children's voices, singing in the cupola!

References