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Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead, Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep sea swell And the profit and loss.
NarratorThe Waste Land · IV. Death by Water
IV. Death by Water
Section 4 of 5
Death by Water is the poem's briefest movement — only 10 lines. Phlebas, the drowned Phoenician sailor, enters the whirlpool of death. His worldly concerns dissolve. "Consider Phlebas" is addressed directly to the reader: you too will die.
Why This Matters
The shortest and most lyrical section of the poem — an elegy that strips commerce and identity away in death.
death/rebirthwatercommerce
Rider-Waite Tarot - Death
Pamela Colman Smith, 1909 · Public Domain