What the Thunder Said

In this final section of the poem Elliot goes back to the idea throughout the rest of the poem, excluding section four, Death By Water, that there is a lack of water in the “wasteland.” He talks about what it would be like with water and no rock, or if there was, like god intended it to be, rock and water together. But no mater the possibilities and wishful thinking he reassures us that there is no water. However, lines 423-425 read I sat upon the shore, Fishing, with the arid plain behind me. “Fishing” is also used in section 3, The Fire Sermon, however the idea of fishing completely contradicts the fact that there is no water. Although, instead of fishing for fish or food, this may just be an act of hope. He may believe if he sits there and fishes long enough for water that it will come. He then says Shall I at least set my lands in order? Once he finally gets the water he wonders how he is going to use it to regenerate the lands. The poem ends with the three-time repetition of Shantih shantih shantih. In simplistic terms, shantih means peace, which you can and should connect to the idea of rain and how peaceful the sound of rain is. By putting this at the end of his poem, this brings out the idea that “the wasteland” is finally going to get water, which means the poem has a happy ending.

On another note, the title of this section is What the Thunder Said. Generally when you think of thunder you also think of lightning, clouds and rain. Although the title isn’t a question, Elliot ended the poem to what would have been the answer to this if it were a question. If it had said What did the Thunder Say? It would have been answered in the last lines, Shantih shantih shantih: Rain. Therefore the title of this section provides a foreshadow to the ending of the poem.