Epigraph
The very words spoken by the Sibyl in the epigraph to the poem have a symbolic significance. The Sibyl wishes to die but cannot; her existence is a living death, and the same is the case with modern times. Modern men have lost all vitality and are leading a meaningless existence.
The Waste Land
The "waste land" is the myth relating to the Fisher King. It symbolizes the modern world with its emotional and spiritual barrenness and aridity. In that waste land, the King has lost his sexual virility and the crops have withered; in this waste land religious faith has withered, and sexual love has been reduced merely to lust.
Philomela
In "A Game of Chess" the reference to the rape of Philomela by the "barbarous king" symbolizes lust and is linked with the violation of the three Thames daughters, where lust also plays a chief role. Both these situations have an obvious connection with the theme of sterile love dealt with above.
Fire
Fire is used as a symbol sometimes of lust and sensual attachment, and sometimes as the purifying flame of purgation. In other words, fire in the poem appears as a symbol of two opposite concepts. In "The Fire Sermon," we get a fusion of St. Augustine's "cauldron of unholy loves" and Buddha's sermon in "Burning burning burning burning." Here, fire is a symbol of lust.
Water
Water is used as a symbol in two opposite ways: as a symbol of life and as a symbol of death, but more often as the latter. Thus "spring rain" is part of April's cruelty, and the summer shower drives Marie and her cousin to shelter. Belladonna and her lover will have a "closed" care in case it rains. Yet, when water is not there, it is strongly desired.
"The Tempest"
The image contained in the line "Those are pearls that were his eyes," borrowed from "The Tempest," has a symbolic meaning. It suggests a death by drowning which leads to a new birth. Suffering and death may lead to a new life. Such is the significance of this image which occurs twice in the poem "The Waste Land."
