If there were water
And no rock
If there were rock
And also water
And water
A spring
A pool among the rock
If there were the sound of water only
Not the cicada
And dry grass singing
But sound of water over a rock
Where the hermit-thrush sings in the pine trees
Drip drop drip drop drop drop drop
But there is no water
Who is the third who walks always beside you?
When I count, there are only you and I together
But when I look ahead up the white road
There is always another one walking beside you
Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded
I do not know whether a man or a woman
—But who is that on the other side of you?
I couldn't get far into the Oppenheimer movie before realizing that this man carried a copy of T.S. Elliot's "The Waste Land". It makes a lot of sense reading through the poem to see Elliot's image of the world after visiting Antarctica.
He felt like he was led like one of the prophets to see a future vision of this earth without rock and without water all covered in white. Considering theoretical physics at the time these same images flashed through Oppenheimer's mind. I haven't even watched fifteen minutes of the movie yet and I can really relate to this man whose studies fumbled in the laboratory but excelled beyond reason.
As I read through T.S. Elliot's poem a few times I felt some comfort when he talked about the "third". He describes the world as no water and no rock. The rock is the foundation. In the time of storm we can find shelter in the rock. In the time of burning heat and burning cold we are refreshed with water, but he describes the scenery as "no water". In desperate times we need a rock to hold on to. In painful times we need water to comfort and heal and refresh. There was no rock and there was no water, but there was a third person. He did not see him there before, but this third person had been walking with them through the wasteland. The presence of this third person gives hope that the wasteland is not forever. Or the present of the third person is a illusion due to the harshness of the present reality.
What do you guys think of "The Wasteland"? I had the choice of watching "Dune" or "Oppenheimer, but instead got caught up in this poem and writing this. Kind of funny. Anyway, we are out of the traffic jam and back in Korea. It has been a long break from writing, but little by little I will get back into it.
Love,
