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

The Waste Land

Part5

V. What the Thunder Said

Eliot's Note

In the first part of Part V three themes are employed: the journey to Emmaus, the approach to the Chapel Perilous (see Miss Weston's book) and the present decay of eastern Europe.

Context

The resurrected Christ appeared to his disciples in Emmaus, a town near Jerusalem. The Chapel Perilous is a setting in Grail legends described in Weston's From Ritual to Romance. Its exact form varies but it is generally an isolated chapel where the hero takes shelter only to find himself confronted by a sinister supernatural power.

References