266. THE RIVER THAMES is central to this section of the poem, but see also lines 173-184 and note 209. For London Bridge, see lines 62 and 427. For other river allusions, see lines 4 (the Lethe), 25 (Isaiah’s river), 41 (the Congo), 77 (the Cydnus), 172 (Ophelia’s river), 266 (the Rhine), 293 (the Arno) and 396 (the Ganges) and note 430 (the Acheron).
THE THAMES-DAUGHTERS’ SONG: Eliot*: “The Song of the (three) Thames-daughters begins here. From line 292 to 306 inclusive they speak in turn. V. Götterdammerung, III. I: the Rhine-daughters.”
See Richard Wagner, Götterdammerung (note 8). The Thames-daughters’ song is directly derived from that of Wagner’s Rhine-daughters. The chorus lines "Weialala leia, Wallala leialala" (lines 277-278) and the more terse “la la”(line 306) are Wagner’s own, and Eliot also uses gold forging (lines 282-284) and assimilates Wagner’s clipped pace and spritely tone (lines 266-289) to contrast the song’s grimmer content. In the opera, the nymphs take turns singing one line at a time, with some of the same curse and restoration motifs of the Grail legend (note 0.2). See Götterdammerung 3.1.81-92:
“From the Rhine's pure gold
was the ring once wrought.
He who craftily shaped it
and lost it in shame
laid a curse thereon
for time to come to doometh
its lord surely to death
...if thou the ring wilt not yield
to rest for aye in the waters
this stream alone stayeth the curse!”
NYMPHS, or singing spirits, hearken back to the airy spirits of Ariels’ song in the Tempest (see note 26). Eliot's Thames-daughters also follow the nymphs of Edmund Spenser, Prothalamion (see note 176):
“Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song...
There, in a meadow, by the river's side,
A flock of nymphs I chanced to espy,
All lovely daughters of the flood thereby....”
See also lines 176, 183 and 184. For the meaning of what Eliot’s nymphs sing, see note 293.
272. BARGES DRIFTING: See Conrad***, Heart of Darkness 1:
“The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway. In the offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished sprits.”
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* see note 0.1 ***see note 0.3
