peace Eliot uses symbols in his poem The Waste Land to express the massive idea of a fractured civilization Fragmented form of poetry as a symbol The Waste Land is formed in a fragmented structure unlike the traditional poetry form For example the poem begins with April is the cruellest month breeding At first glance the nonsensical starting words may seem more frustrating like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales which suggests we get even more frustrated with April's 'sweet showers' However when you get to Line of the poem The Waste Land the frustrating expectations will be shattered because such a start symbolizes the restless mental state of modern man The versatile symbolic meaning of water Water is a significant symbol of birth death and resurrection throughout this poem At the poem's beginning water stands for life-giver and symbolizes fertility However it also stands for death in the Death by Water section The symbolic meaning of water in this section is taken from one of Shakespeare's best plays entitled The Tempest However in the What the Thunder Said section water is a symbol of hope because according to Eliot the resurrection of a desolate wasteland is only possible as a tree that finds new life in rainwater Ganga was sunken and the limp leaves Waited for rain Drought as a symbol of death Although the poem deals with the physical and emotional effects of war the speaker of the poem uses drought as a symbol of death Here is no water but only rock Rock and no water and the sandy road Among these and others drought is a symbol of death To raise concerns about waiting for rain the speaker says that even lightning which indicates the possibility of rain is infertile So there is hope of rain in this infertile land if the purification of modern people is done Symbols of disconnection between the human and natural worlds The poem's speaker in the A Game of Chess section presents how the modern world has lost contact with nature Organic life-giving spirit has become inorganic inert matter The Chair she sat in like a burnished throne Glowed on the marble Thus the poem's characters have isolated themselves from the natural world in an artificial world immersed in synthetic fragrances Extended Symbol Eliot uses specific symbols that have extended significance For example the journey of the German princess to different places stands for the rootlessness of modern people Traveling to her south in the winter refers to her fun and sensual pleasures The well-known symbol of the rats' alley alludes to the monotony and emptiness of city life The collapse of the London Bridge is not an accident but a sign of modern Europe's political and spiritual decay So all the symbols used in the poem The Waste Land mention far more than what they present It is the responsibility of the reader to understand their broader significance In light of the above discussion it is safe to say that the symbols of the poem The Waste Land are unclear if not understood Still with a reasonable assumption of the symbols it is unique and timeless because this poem symbolically represents a spiritually deadly nation nbsp