The Waste Land and the Fisher King

The central image of the poem is derived from the Arthurian legend (itself derived from far more ancient mythology) of the Fisher King. The King is wounded and sick, and his kingdom has become a barren desert. He is unable to walk and spends his time fishing from the riverbank. He and his lands can be healed only by the intervention of a knight who is pure of heart. The Fisher King's castle contains the Holy Grail, the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper.

In the poem, the barren land is a symbol of the decline of western civilisation, brought about by war and materialism.




T. S. Eliot and others read The Waste Land:

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