Abstract:As we know, the water is the source of life, but water has many meanings in the poem the Waste Land. The multi-storey images and the miscellaneous structures, the deep significances of subtle let the Waste Land hard to obscure. This thesis analyzes the images of water in the poem to show the theme of this long poem by exploring the images of water. It can give the reader a clear thinking to understand this long poem and see the wildness of the modern western civilization. We can see the spirit of people’s disillusionment of this poem and we can know the importance of religion. This thesis includes five chapters. The first part is an introduction. In this part, we can know some information about the theme and writing style of The Waste Land. The second part is the literature review. The third part is the preliminary presentation of the images of water. In this part, the author of this thesis analyzes the images of water in The Burial of the Dead. The fourth part is the extension and development of the images of water, and discussing something in A Game of Chess, The Fire Sermon, and Death by Water and What the Thunder Said and analyzing the most important part of this poem What the Thunder Said. The last part is a conclusion. In this part we can know the major images of water are the death, birth, belief, pursuit, sex and lust.  

Key words: image; water; symbol; the waste land

摘要：众所周知，水是生命的源泉，但是水在《荒原》中却有很多含义。多层的意象和复杂的结构让《荒原》意义深刻含蓄、晦涩难懂。本文通过分析水在该诗中的意象来展示这首诗的主题。这可以给读者一条清晰的思路来理解这首诗，可以看到西方现代文明的荒原, 并且我们可以看到这首诗中人们精神的幻灭。本文从五个部分来分析水的意象。第一部分是介绍，主要是《荒原》的中心和写作特点。第二部分是文献综述。第三部分是水的意象的初步体现，主要分析死者葬仪。第四部分是水的意象的延伸和发展。主要分析对弈，火诫，水里的死亡和雷霆的话。第五部分是结论，总结出《荒原》这首诗中水的意象主要有性欲，新生，死，追求, 信仰。

关键词：意象; 水; 荒原; 象征