The Waste Land- Allusion

In "The Fire Sermon," there are allusions to many different songs and old poetic works through out the sections. At the end, there is a reference to St. Augustine's Confessions, "To Carthage then I came / … O Lord Thou pluckest me out O Lord Thou pluckest" (Lines 307-310). It is important to note that during "The Fire Sermon," the narrator proclaims himself to be the mythological creature Tiresias, one whom has both male and female features. Tiresias views an interaction between a vulnerable women and a clerk, and ultimately feels ashamed for what he has witnessed. St. Augustine's Confessions is an autobiographical work that St. Augustine contemplates and retreats his sinful youth and immoral life. At the end of The Fire Sermon, this allusion to the Confessions exemplifies that Tiresias feels remorse for what his life has come to be and all of the terrible things he has done and seen.