"I think we are in rats’ alley
Where the dead men lost their bones...."See in text(Text of the Poem)
The lines possibly allude to trench warfare during World War I. Long, deep trenches were dug by both the Allied forces and the Germans to provide shelter as combat raged on the Western Front. The allusion suggests that the woman’s lover is a soldier returned from the war and anticipates the introduction of Lil and her husband, Albert, in the second half of section II.
"“You who were with me in the ships at Mylae!
..."See in text(Text of the Poem)
Mylae, an ancient Mediterranean port in northeast Sicily, was the site of a fierce naval battle in 260 BCE between Carthage, a city state, and the Roman Republic; the Roman forces won, conquering Carthage. Since the speaker and Stetson, his unidentified acquaintance, obviously didn’t fight in the ancient battle, the statement serves no literal purpose; instead, it perhaps suggests the idea that wars are as old as humankind and are a repeating cycle throughout history. In that regard, World War I—“the war to end all wars”—will have accomplished nothing except to precede the wars to come.
"the archduke’s,
My cousin’s, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
Marie, hold on tight...."See in text(Text of the Poem)
The allusion to the arch-duke likely refers to Austria’s Crown Prince Rudolph, who was also an archduke and a first cousin to Marie, Countess Larisch, who appears to be identified here as the speaker. Eliot met Countess Larisch in Munich either in the summer of 1911 or possibly in 1914 before World War I began. This passage, as well as others in the text, seem to reflect conversations Eliot had had with various people in his life.
"the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour...."See in text(Text of the Poem)
The Hofgarten, German for “court garden,” is a popular and historic public garden located in Munich. It is noted for the colonnade in the garden. (A colonnade is a row of columns holding up a roof that are separated from each other by an equal distance.) Whiling away the time in conversation on a sunny summer day in Germany must be a painful memory for the speaker after the destruction of the war and perhaps explains her description of spring at the beginning of the poem.
"With a wicked pack of cards..."See in text(Text of the Poem)
T. S. Eliot's speaker seems to be illustrating the kinds of superstitions that would revive following the dissolution of traditional religion. In the absence of shared religious beliefs, mankind might revert to ancient beliefs in such things as fortune telling, astrology, numerology, palm reading, and spiritualism (communing with the dead). Madame Sosostris represents a figure who offers these rituals.
