The Rose and the Yew

While reading through "The Four Quartets" I noticed that Eliot mentions two things almost above all else. The first is the rose, and the second is the yew tree.

In class we discussed the rose as a symbol of love and romance, even carnal desire. It is the symbol of the immediacy of passion and love. Perhaps that is why Eliot links it with "Little Gidding" and his idea of fire. After all, do we not often say that we burn with passion or that love is kindled.

On the other end of the spectrum is the yew tree, a symbol of immortality, of death and rebirth. It is almost the perfect symbol for the entire book where the end is the beginning and the beginning is the end. Everything comes around to a perfect circle.

The two symbols together form the perfect image, the immortality of love. No longer is it a fleeting feeling that burns hot and bright for a second before finally disappearing almost as if it were not there, but it burns eternally, purifying everything it touches and leaving it as if born anew.

In the end, I wonder if this poem is not Eliot's faith coming to the surface. It is said that Christ was crucified on a cross made of yew. That the yew symbolizes his mortality, perhaps the rose then is the undying love of Eliot's savior. He does not share it openly, perhaps, because he thinks that only those who can wade through the muck are truly deserving of the message.