Page 93 - Konferensiya to'plami - 1 (ASR)

The temporal symbolism of "Four Quartets" represents the culmination of Eliot's
symbolic technique. Each quartet is associated not only with an element but also
with a season and a time of day, creating a comprehensive symbolic system that
addresses human experience across multiple dimensions. In "East Coker," Eliot
writes, "In my beginning is my end," a chiastic structure that itself becomes symbolic
of cyclical time. This phrase is reversed at the poem's conclusion—"In my end is my
beginning"—suggesting that apparent endings contain the possibility of renewal.
This complex temporal symbolism expresses Eliot's mature understanding of human
existence as simultaneously bound by time and capable of transcending it through
moments of spiritual insight.
Eliot's use of paradoxical symbolism reaches its apex in "Little Gidding," where
opposites are continually reconciled: "Midwinter spring," "the dark dove with the
flickering tongue," and "the fire and the rose are one." These paradoxical images
reflect the complex nature of spiritual truth, which transcends binary opposition and
logical categorization. The symbol of the "still point of the turning world" from "Burnt
Norton" similarly expresses this paradoxical vision—a fixed center that gives meaning
to movement, eternity manifest within time. Through such paradoxical symbolism,
Eliot suggests that spiritual reality cannot be directly articulated but must be
approached through a symbolic language that embraces contradiction.
Throughout his career, Eliot developed increasingly sophisticated techniques
for deploying symbols in patterns rather than as isolated images. In "Four Quartets,"
symbols recur with subtle variations across all four poems, creating a musical
structure of statement and development similar to that of a musical quartet. This
technique allows symbols to accrue meaning through repetition and variation, just
as a musical motif gains depth through its development. For instance, the garden
symbol appears in each quartet but with different emphases: the rose garden of
"Burnt Norton," the "wounded surgeon" in the garden of "East Coker," the
"kingfisher's wing" reflecting light in "The Dry Salvages," and finally the "crowned knot
of fire" in "Little Gidding." Through this pattern of recurrence and transformation, Eliot
creates a cumulative symbolic effect that expresses his vision of unity underlying
apparent diversity.
The objective correlative, a concept Eliot himself articulated in his critical
writings, provides a theoretical framework for understanding his approach to
symbolism. He defined it as "a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall
be the formula of that particular emotion; such that when the external facts, which
must terminate in sensory experience, are given, the emotion is immediately
evoked." This technique allows Eliot to express complex emotional and spiritual
states through concrete imagery rather than abstract statement. The "patient
etherized upon a table" in "Prufrock," the "handful of dust" in "The Waste Land," and
the "moment in the rose-garden" in "Burnt Norton" all function as objective
correlatives, embodying emotions too complex for direct expression.

CONCLUSION
T.S. Eliot's masterful deployment of metaphors and symbols constitutes one of
his most significant contributions to modernist poetry. His symbols function not
merely as decorative elements but as essential structures that organize complex
thoughts and emotions into coherent artistic expressions. The evolution of Eliot's 91
symbolism—from the fragmented images of alienation in his early work to the

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