Limbo
Canto III is the fourth chapter in Inferno in Dante’s The Devine Comedy. In this section, Dante travels into limbo, the first level of hell. Limbo is where the non-christians reside. In Limbo, there is no punishment. This is the place where sorrow is the only torture. The people here live in a never ending valley of grief.
Connection to The Waste Land[]
The people in Limbo is not happy, much like the people today. Perhaps Eliot is suggesting civilization has becoming more like an endless void filled with despair and sadness. That more man are becoming subjected to inaction and apathy. All they do is sigh. Sighing is a sign of tiredness, a sign that one is depressed, that one is no longer motivated to do anything; a sign that one has given up on life.