The narrative voice of the quartets, understood to be T.S. Eliot himself, observes physical environments and spiritual concepts. He watches the passage of time, the destruction of World War II, and his own aging process. He wrestles with the futility of language and his life's work as a poet, seeking stillness and acceptance in a chaotic world.

A ghostly figure composed of recognizable elements from the speaker's past, leaving his physical body on a distant shore. He walks a dead patrol with the speaker, bringing wisdom from beyond the grave. He offers specific gifts reserved for old age, focusing on the fading of physical sensation and the harsh clarity of past mistakes.

The Hindu god of protection and compassion who appears as a spiritual reference point. He imparts wisdom regarding the impermanence of the physical body versus the eternal nature of the soul. His battlefield guidance provides a religious framework for understanding mortality that complements the Christian themes present elsewhere in the text.

A warrior engaged in a battlefield conversation detailed in the Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata. He receives direct guidance concerning the eternal nature of the soul and the impermanence of the physical form. His presence illustrates the human struggle to comprehend death and duty in the face of warfare.

A legendary figure from Arthurian lore disabled by battle wounds, who now quietly passes his time fishing because he can no longer ride a horse. He functions as a stand-in for humanity's loss of agency during the devastation of the mid-twentieth century. He also acts as a bridge to Christian symbolism, specifically Jesus Christ the fisher of men.