‘The Fire Sermon’, but Which Fire Sermon?

The Waste Land is a highly influential modernist poem by Thomas Stearns Eliot and despite the alleged obscurity of the poem, it has nonetheless become a familiar touchstone of modern literature. Any reading of The Waste Land necessarily demands that some account be taken of its multiple allusions, and one of the most obvious starting places for the reader seeking guidance is Eliot's own 'notes' to the poem which is the origin of the title. Boddy discusses the reference which the poet intends to be taken at face value and the source of the title which appears to have gone largely unnoticed.