Before the poem begins, an Epigraph in two quotations by the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus appears, inviting readers to think about knowledge and the sameness of “the way upward and the way downward” (Epigraph).

The first poem of the quartet begins with a meditation on time, which is “unredeemable” (Line 5) no matter its context in the past, present, or future. The speaker of the poem—who is understood to be Eliot himself—then invites the reader through a gate to a rose garden, acknowledging that he, the speaker, is unaware of a reason to explore the roses.

The speaker accompanies the reader into the garden, prodding them to be led by the sounds of nature and the bird guiding them through a gate. “Unheard music” (Line 29) sounds as the reader moves through the garden towards an empty pool where a single lotus appears. A cloud passes overhead as the bird urges the reader to leave the garden because “human kind/Cannot bear very much reality” (Lines 44-45).

The second section of “Burnt Norton” begins with an image of “[g]arlic and sapphires in the mud” (Line 49). Wars of the past have left “scars” (Line 52), and the speaker traces the movement of blood under the stars where “the boarhound and the boar” (Line 61) dance.