“ritual words”. Crossing the Channel amounts to going through the gate to a
sacrificial area. The war zone in France is considered by David Jones as a “Waste
Land”, which is not only a wrecked area, but also a place of trial, as in Malory’s Le
Morte d’Arthur. That gate is also compared to the gate to Hell. On disembarking, the
soldiers are beginning a descent into Hell, and as it is well known, on such a journey
there are many hurdles to be cleared, and the will and strength of the hero are
severely tested. Thus, the soldiers are entering the field of hazards and trials.
2/ In Part II, the admission is followed by a noviciate. These newcomers, destined to
become victims, get acquainted with the ways and spirit of the fighting soldier. They
are instructed in tactics and the handling of weapons, and their bodies are made
stronger by parades and long marches. These novices, also called “catechumens”, are
taught by “tall guardsmen, their initiators” and prepare for their baptism of fire.
This baptism of fire is the first crucial moment of this war liturgy; it takes place
right in the middle of In Parenthesis, half-way along the sacrificial march. It is a
sacramental act, turning the novices, or “catachumens”, into fully qualified victims.
This baptism is performed in two stages: the first one, in part III, is an initiation; the
second one, in Part IV, is the baptism,proper.
3/ The Initiation (in Part III) is an initiation to a chtonian mystery. The descent into
Hell, which had been foretold when the troops landed in France, is now taking place.
The soldiers march to the frontline, down narrow, winding trenches in the dark.
Symbolically, they go “past the little gate” to the Chapel Perilous, walk through “the
long, strait, dark entry” of the palace of Mars, which in Chaucer is based on the
description of Hades, and through the eight gates Arthur had to pass in his
“Harrowing of Hades”. They reach the frozen regions of the Celtic underworld where
the “long-barrow sleepers” of Mac Og lie, and the baleful “dogs of Annyn” bark. As in
many initiation rites these troops wander in the dark; but an ominous moon is
lurking over their heads and sheds its intermittent light on this waste land. She is a
feminine figure, and is identified with Diana, the Queen of the Woods, to whom
human victims were sacrificed. At the end of In Parenthesis, the soldiers will die in
her grove. Now in Biez Wood, they get acquainted with the hazards of war, and they
have joined the community of “professed” soldiers. They are like monks who after
their noviciate are worthy of their profession of religious vows. Talking of these men,
David Jones writes: “The ritual of their parading was fashioned to austerity, and bore
a new directness.”
4/ This “new directness” leads to a baptism of fire on Christmas Day (25 Dec. 1916) in
Part IV. For the first time the troops are under fire; and from the trenches they can
see Biez Wood, close to Mametz Wood, the place of their future immolation. This is a
grim baptism, fraught with ominous signs. First, it takes place in a Waste Land or
King Pellam’s Laund, (which is the title David Jones borrowed from Le Morte
d’Arthur and gave this section). Furthermore, this baptism ironically takes place on
Christmas Day: in the trenches, Jesus, the Prince of Peace, is already seen as the
victim to be sacrificed on the cross on Good Friday. One is also reminded of the
baptism inaugurated by Christ, when it is said that he will baptize in Spirit and fire.
By fire Jesus meant the Holy Spirit; but here, the troops are baptized in the fire of
guns and rifles. In fact, they are baptized in death.
5/ The last three parts of In Parenthesis make up the liturgy of immolation. It starts
in Part V with a vigil. The battalion are at rest behind the lines. The mood is grimly
