A Handful of Dust - T.S. Eliot and Evelyn Waugh

When I was coming up with names for this blog I wrote down a lot of words that I liked the sound of. Unfortunately many of them were in the realms of made up words ala Miranda or neo-goth platitudes. Eventually I came up with the name A Handful of Dust. When I created my blog I hadn't decided what the focus of this blog was going to be, so I wanted a name that would cover most themes.

I named this blog after a line in T.S. Eliot's poem The Waste Land. The poem itself- well worth a read- is too long to list in full, but I will write the passage it is from:

"I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

I would advise anyone who likes poetry or literary fiction to read The Waste Land; it is my #1 favourite poem. If you were stuck on a desert island this poem would see you through until either you get rescued or it drives you mad (which it has plenty of potential to do). The themes are rich, satisfying, obscure and interesting.

A Handful of Dust is also the title of an 1930s Evelyn Waugh novel and film (with inspired fashion) but I'll save that post for another time. For now, I leave you with...dust.

With these images I have shown dust, earth, dust clouds, soldiers, hands, heat, dirt, abandoned buildings, houses, loneliness, the solitary, people, bodies, watches, time, and guns among other things.

My favourite is the soldier- what could be more threatening than a low dust cloud, waiting in the silence. Also on the the theme of waiting is the wristwatch. This for me perfectly sums up T.S. Eliot's line in The Waste Land. We are waiting so long for death, watching the time, that our watch has turned to dust, like the pieces of time.

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I hope everyone liked this post- hopefully you enjoyed the photography and who knows, maybe the poem inspired you to write your own. If it did, leave a link in the comments, I'd love to see it.