From: "Tony Ellis" <tony.ellis@futurenet.co.uk>
Subject: Re: (urth) Two Wolfe Comments
Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 15:36:34 +0000

Christopher R. Culver wrote:

> 1) I don't know the origin of the word "Madregot" (the name of the Brook
> beyond Briah), but perhaps it is related to the Spanish word "Madrugada,"
> which means "dawn." This seems to fit, being another example of the solar
> motif which is predominant in the Book of the New Sun. Maybe Mantis could
> clear this up.
>

Madregot is a kabbalistic term which can be translated either as "the stages" or
"the steps". I think. Ties in with the whole Briah-Yesod kabbalah thing, clearly.

> 2) We've discussed before the influence of T.S. Eliot on Wolfe, particularly
> from "The Waste Lands." However, the poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred
> Prufrock," also by Eliot seems to be an inspiration for _Peace_. The narrator
> of "Prufrock" is an elderly gentleman who is looking back on his life, and the
> message is that old age is basically a living death.
>
I couldn't agree that the message of "Prufrock" is "old age is a living death".
If it's summed up anywhere, it's in the lines "Do I dare\Disturb the universe?"
It's about a life wasted in hesitation and self-doubt, and for that reason I
don't really see it as an inspiration for Peace: Weer never seems to leave the
small town where he was born, but surely he's more dynamic than poor old
spineless Prufrock?


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