Four Quartets

The first section of the final quartet begins with a description of spring that can appear early, in the middle of winter. Flashes of sun warm the frozen landscape, like a “pentecostal fire” (Line 636), as the speaker wonders about summer.

The second and third stanzas of the first section of “Little Gidding” asks readers to think about the paths they take and the way these paths change according to the seasons and the time of day. The journeys change in meaning as time passes, and the purpose of the travel becomes less clear. At the same time, the journey is “always the same” (Line 670), and the purpose of such journeys is “to kneel/Where prayer has been valid” (Lines 673-74).

The second section of the quartet is dominated by images of ash and other kinds of darkness. Cynical laughter accompanies death, flood, and drought, as villages are overwhelmed by destructive forces of nature. Morning approaches, and, as the long night retreats, the speaker meets “a stranger in the waning dusk” (Line 719) who is somehow familiar. The speaker recognizes the ghostly figure and cries out, only to hear someone else’s voice. As the stranger’s appearance grows more defined, the two walk together “in a dead patrol” (Line 735).