Note on and translation of "Od’ und leer das Meer"
This line also comes from Tristan und Isolde, and does not appear in the first draft of "The Waste Land." It appears in the margin, written in pen, indicating that this phrase is Eliot's addition. It translates to "Bleak and empty, the sea." The speaker of this stanza is speaking of his failing eyes, and saying,
"...I was neither
Living nor dead and I knew nothing
Looking into the heart of light, the silence."(Eliot 40-2)
Remember that during this first draft, Eliot still had a quote from Heart of Darkness at the opening of his poem, so this section about looking into the "heart of light" and finding it bleak like a winter's sea may be a nod to the main premise of Conrad's novel.
"...I was neither
Living nor dead and I knew nothing
Looking into the heart of light, the silence."(Eliot 40-2)
Remember that during this first draft, Eliot still had a quote from Heart of Darkness at the opening of his poem, so this section about looking into the "heart of light" and finding it bleak like a winter's sea may be a nod to the main premise of Conrad's novel.