Eliot's Poem example essay topic

T.S. Eliot changed the face of poetry. He has been regarded as the most celebrated poet of his era. This Nobel Prize winning poet is credited with viewing the world as it appears, without making any optimistic judgement's. Despite the ire of Mr. Eliot, it would be safe to regard him as a prophet of doom. His works reflected his frustration with mankind, and the seeming need to be released from this cold world.

It was once said, "How unpleasant to meet Mr. Eliot". (Time 1) His rather cynical view of man's accomplishments leads one to regard him as a pessimist who prophesies nothing but doom for mankind. Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1888. As a youngster, Thomas received the best education from schools in the United States and Europe. He went to Harvard at age 18, then on to Germany, the Sorbonne in France, and Oxford in England to study literature. In 1914 he met the entrepreneur, Ezra Pound.

Pound was a publisher who helped various poets publish their works. While in England, Eliot met Vivienne Haigh-Wood whom he married in 1915. "The marriage was not a success", (Abrams 2361). Contending with his wife's neurotic behavior and ailing health, Eliot became stressed out and checked himself into a Swiss sanatorium in 1921. Two months later, Eliot checked out of the sanatorium and gave Ezra Pound a manuscript entitled "The Waste Land".

This work alone is considered his most famous poem. It is a "poetic exploration of soul's struggling for redemption", (Kimball 23). Eliot's other works, such as "Murder in the Cathedral", and "Old Possum's Book of Cats" have enjoyed success as well, with "Cats" being made into a musical play. Originally over one thousand lines long, the abridged version of The Waste Land is very pessimistic in tone. The original version was scaled down by Ezra Pound who thought it too long to publish. Some critics have said it is a jumble of thoughts and languages, with the end being a collage of various languages.

Others have credited it with being the most influential poem of the 20th century. However, most critics agree Eliot can be recognized as the leader in the modernist movement in literature although he "has been reclassified over and over as a racist, misogynist, and a fascist... ". (. sci. fi 1). "The Waste Land" was a deeply un optimistic, un-Christian and therefore un-American poem, prefaced by the Cu mean Sibyl, "I want to die", (Time 100 2). His following poems, The Hollow Men and Journey of the Magi, published in 1925 and 1927 respectively, both have the same tone.

They all cry for the want of death, for the escape from an acheron ian life. His poems generally deal with religious beliefs (or the absence of), sexuality, emotional impoverishment, boredom and spiritual emptiness. The Waste Land "is a poem about spiritual dryness, about the kind of existence in which no regenerating belief gives significance and value to people's daily activities, sex brings no fruitfulness, and death heralds no resurrection", (Abrams 2368). "It annoyed Eliot that The Waste Land was interpreted as a prophetic statement: he referred to it (somewhat disingenuously) as 'just a piece of rhythmical grumbling,' " (Time 100 2). Other works of his, however, show similar themes (such as The Hollow Men or Journey of the Magi). Perhaps his most famous poem, it details the journey of the human soul searching for redemption.

He owes most of his ideas to the philosophies of English idealist F.H. Bradley. "Eliot's understanding of poetic epistemology is a version of Bradley's theory, that knowing involves three levels (immediate, relational, and transcendent)", (Cooper 94). Bradley believed that there exists a prior consciousness, a conscious consciousness and a transcendent consciousness. Eliot did his Harvard dissertation on Bradley's philosophies and knew them quite well.

The first part of The Waste Land, titled "The Burial of the Dead", discusses the seasons and gives the essential features of Eliot's waste land. The first seven lines are thought to be amongst the best known and most-quoted lines in poetry. These first lines are thought to be spoken by Countess Marie Larisch, offering a "resistance to life and denial of hope or rebirth", (Gish 45). The mention of "dull roots" and the "cruelest month" invokes mental images of hard times, of a depressed land, of a dark age.

These primary lines define the theme for the story and justify the title. The beginning of the poem seems to be a kind of mourning of life. Some critics claim the mention of roots suggest growth and life, therefore signifying Eliot's optimism. However, he later on asks "What branches grow out of this stony rubbish?" (Abrams 2370) Eliot mentions the "dull roots" in order to convey a dismal atmosphere where even the roots seem dull.

He claims winter "kept us warm" (line 5), which means the earth had been covered in snow. This increases the reader's sense of isolation. With snow being reminiscent of Antarctica, one wonders how a snowy blanket can be viewed as warm. Eliot compares the snow to warmth in order to suggest how cold life actually is. Lines 7-17 of part one actually belong to Countess Marie Larisch.

"King Ludwig II of Bavaria drowned in 1886 in mysterious circumstances (Abrams 2370). The king's second cousin, Marie Larisch, met with Eliot to discuss King Ludwig. Lines 7 to 17 are memories and thoughts about the king. Marie discusses the fear she endured while sledding. The memories she has of childhood suggest that she has changed as the world has changed. She recalls her childhood as a time when she overcame her winter fears instead of heading south, as she now does, according to the poem.

In the next few lines the author pulls from the Bible to illustrate the desolation of the land and the plight of man. He talks about "stony rubbish" and "a heap of broken images", (Abrams 2370). These ideas once again serve to illustrate the broken condition of man's spirit. It is as if nothing can fix these problems, and man is doomed to accept the broken state of the land. The reason for his helplessness is that his experience is limited to a realm of broken images where he can see only his own shadow, where the light is so blinding that he cannot even imagine the answers to the questions posed in lines 19 and 20. The speaker beckons to the reader, telling him that he will show him fear in a handful of dust.

"The lines are enigmatic, but they suggest that the fear which he speaks is in some way darker, more terrible even than the prophet's warning", (Gish 50). One can only imagine being lured to a darkened area with promises of experiencing fear. "What is not explained, and, in fact, the poem is fill of a sense of terror that is never fully accounted for. It's presence is a constant disturbing background to every scene", (Gish 50). The next few lines contain a section of Richard Wagner's Tristan Und Isolde. This dissonance in tone serves to heighten the trepidation of the reader.

It is similar to a horror movie: the viewer watches the "normal" scenes in the movie, waiting for something horrible to take place. Due the grim tone of the poem, the airy love song seems grossly misplaced. Eliot chooses this section of Wagner's poem to illustrate that man has nothing to strive for. In Wagner's work, this section is where Tristan lays dying, and instead of seeing Isolde only sees "waste and empty sea", (Abrams 2371). This is Eliot's way of saying mankind is doomed to his fate. He is saying not to expect any help or sympathy from anyone.

This seems to be one of the underlying themes throughout the poem. The next few lines where he discusses the Hyacinth girl are a deviation from the poem's grim tone. They seem to represent an internal struggle with the author, where he must choose life or death. His depiction of her as "the heart of light", means that she is viewed as life giving, since light and life have been always been synonymous in poetry. However, he is unable to choose life and ends the stanza with the words "Oed und leer das Meer", (from Wagner's poem) which mean "waste and empty is the sea", (Abrams 2371). Thus, Eliot returns to the dark tone of the poem, choosing death, the waste land, over the brightness of the light, and the light of the hyacinth girl.

Madame Sosostris is a figure somewhat gleaned from Aldous Huxley's Come Yellow. In Huxley's novel, Sosostris is a gypsy who dresses up to tell fortunes at a fair. Eliot's use of the gypsy is to give bad fortune to whoever stops to listen. This figure once again reiterates Eliot's theme of mankind's shortcomings. The "wicked pack of cards" referred to in line 46 primes the reader for danger lurking in the faces of the cards.

The use of the word "wicked" implies that anyone receiving a fortune from Madam Sosostris is sure to be doomed. However, in line 45, it states that she "is known to be the wisest woman in Europe", (Abrams 2371). Thus, whoever receives their fortune cannot simply pass it off as folly from an old fool. Rather, it would be wise to take heed to her visions of doom. Her words at the end, "Fear death by water", have a very ominous sound. Since she is said to be a "famous clairvoyant e", these words mean much.

Thus, when Madam Sosostris prophesies, it is usually true. The section of the poem titled "Unreal City" contains a note that quotes lines from "The Seven Old Men" by Charles Baudelaire. It is written in French, but the translation is as follows: "Swarming city, city full of dreams / Where the specter in broad daylight accosts the passerby", (Abrams 2372). This whole stanza is dedicated to Dante's Inferno. "Throughout The Waste Land, hell is a city and this allows for more diversity than either the trench Odysseus digs or the 'inanna reg na' Aeneas traverses", (Bloom 75). Analysts believe this part of the poem is written for those who have no religion.

Eliot himself became an atheist while studying at school before returning to Christianity. The suffering of the men in the "Unreal City" may have not experienced religion and may be made to suffer even in death. Eliot's views in this section are very similar to those of Dante's in Inferno. The last line of this section, written in French, may be translated as "Hypocrite reader! - my likeness - my brother!" This is Eliot's description of man "sunk in stupidity, sin, and evil", (Abrams 2372). This last stanza closes ends the first part of Eliot's poem. It sets the tone for the rest of the poem, and it allows the reader to prepare for the grim outlook of the work.

The various references to Hell spell despair for mankind. This imagery, coupled with the ominous words of the clairvoyant Madam Sosostris, causes the aforementioned underlying fear to move to the forefront of the reader's emotions in anticipation for the next sections. Part two of this work is titled "A Game of Chess". Many critics see this as a sexist piece, where women are objectified and viewed as intellectually fragile. This section draws heavily on Thomas Middleton's play, Women Beware Women, which discusses sexual conquest and beguiling.

"The chess game is used to distract a mother-in-law's attention during the seduction of her daughter-in-law Bianca", (Gish 61). This section can almost be viewed as a separate play, with two new voices and the setting is completely different. "The two sets of characters are distinct and the situations initially are quite different: the first takes place in the dressing room of an upper-class woman, the second in a working-class pub. Yet together they embody the despairing vision first defined in 'The Burial of the Dead,' a world devoid of human relationship or love", (Gish 58).

Throughout this section, the reader sees that the woman is more like an invisible man. She seems to be known only when she is covered up. When naked, she becomes rather invisible. This obj e citification causes critics to view Eliot as a misogynist. However, Eliot presents no other views during the poem to be labeled as a misogynist. The first 33 lines of this section serve to illustrate the setting.

Numerous references to plays where love is the central theme abound. He uses the word to describe the paneled ceiling, which alludes to the play Aeneid. In that play, the word helped to illustrate the room in which Dido held a banquet for Aeneas, with whom she fell in love. Eliot also tells of a painting of Philomel who, raped by King Tereus in Ovid's version of a Greek myth, turned into a nightingale. This mention of rape helps to set the tone of this section. Although the section seems to start innocently enough, this line, coupled with these descriptions, primes the reader for a downfall of some sort.

Once again, Eliot uses the techniques of a modern day horror film to explain his main point: the doom of mankind. "The entire opening description is heavy, opulent, a little nauseating. The atmosphere is stifling, and although nothing happens until the last lines, we are set up for themes of sex and betrayal by the lush scene and the allusions", (Gish 62). Once the dialogue starts, we see the suspicion and wariness of the female character. Repeatedly, she asks "What is that noise?" This suggests something illicit is happening, something forbidden is taking place, or is about to take place. The last few lines of this section betray the female's deceptive nature.

Apparently, she asked her husband Alfred for money to buy some teeth and used it for abortions instead. This suggests the female isn't as innocent as she may seem. Written at a time when abortions were taboo, this section illustrates the deceptive qualities of even the most innocent females. This goes back to one of the underlying themes of the poem, which is the self-destruction of mankind. The death of trust, and the destruction of the fetus refers back to Eliot's tone of death found throughout the poem.

The phrase, "HURRY UP PLEASE IT IS TIME", is the traditional call of the bartender at closing time. Here, it is used to illustrate a sense of urgency during the illicit encounter. The voice uttering that phrase is thought to belong to a group of ladies gossiping at a nearby table. This would explain the last line, "Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies...

". However, it could also be interpreted as the bartender himself. The bartender's voice would suggest a late night encounter at an after hours pub. A group of ladies gossiping could leave earlier than closing time. Eliot uses the innocence of the female to cast her as the violated and the violator. The fact she had to lie to her husband for an abortion makes the reader sympathize with her.

However, the reader must also view her as the violator for lying to her husband. Madame Sosostris' cards foretell this event in "The Burial of the Dead". She says "Here is Belladonna, the Lady of the Rocks, the lady of situations", (lines 49-50). The word Belladonna "suggests Madonna, and therefore the Madonna of the Rocks; the rocks symbolize the church. Belladonna is also an eye cosmetic and a poison - the deadly nightshade", (Abrams 2371). Suggestions of eye cosmetic can mean the "Belladonna's" attempts to woo certain individuals.

This would cast suspicion on the innocent. Thus, this clever allusion helps to illustrate Eliot's thoughts about man trusting each other. The grim tone distorts the normal view of society. It allows that there are no innocents, no one can be trusted, and man is doomed to a fate of destruction. The next section, titled "The Fire Sermon", discusses the human condition. The narrator, in this section, "speaks again as both observer and participant, contemplating and lamenting human experience", (Bloom 107).

Preached by Buddha to one thousand priests, the original "Fire Sermon" condemned the passions of lust and immorality. In Buddha's sermon, fire is the main image. In Eliot's it is water. This section concludes with the songs of the Thames maidens, whose sexual episodes are associated with the dirty river Thames. In the first stanza of this section, Eliot tells how everything is sweet. Then, in lines 185-186, he says "But at my back in a cold blast I hear the rattle of the bones, and chuckle spread from ear to ear", (Abrams 2375).

This vivid imagery allows the reader to envision instant decay in the area around the reader. Immediately, one expects the area to become a wasteland. Once again, Eliot alludes to his theory that nothing is sacred. Therefore, the self-destruction of man is inevitable. He describes the trash that can be possibly found in the Thames in detail. The description of empty bottles and sandwich papers floating in the river causes the reader to envision this scene.

Eliot obviously wanted this effect to illustrate man's destruction of nature. These images detract from the image of the sweet Thames, running softly. In fact, the image of the dirty Thames seems more vivid than the clean Thames, only because humans tend to remember negative instances better than positive ones. In the next stanza, Eliot starts by talking about how "a rat crept softly through the vegetation, dragging its slimy belly on the bank", (Abrams 2375).

The image of a dirty rat sets the tone of the decay of the place. The image of white bodies naked on the ground suggests the overwhelming immortality present. Naked bodies lying on a ground where rats are present illustrates the uncleanness of the people who live in the wasteland. Then Eliot mentions how the rat's foot kicks the bones of a skeleton every year. This shows the overall despair present in that society. Instead of being cleaned up, the skeleton is left to lie there, year after year.

The author discusses how he hears horns and motors. It is suggested that they are the sound of automobiles bringing "Sweeney to Mrs. Porter in the spring", (Abrams 2376). Due to the theme, the reader can only believe this to suggest something illicit between Sweeney and Mrs. Porter. Then he ends the stanza with Mrs. Porter and her daughter washing their feet. This means an event took place where Mrs. Porter needs to cleanse herself. The next two stanzas discuss the sexual immorality.

The merchant and the woman meet for a tryst at a popular hotel. Eliot uses Tiresias as a spectator. "Tiresias, although a mere spectator and not indeed a 'character,' is yet the most important personage in the poem, uniting all the rest", (Abrams 2376). The melding of the sexes into one suggests that all humans suffer the same plight, and all humans have the same desires. The problem man has deals with controlling these desires. This stanza is replete with allusions and can be interpreted in many ways.

He speaks of the automation of the typist. She is "hardly aware of her departed lover", and "she smooth es her hair with an automatic hand", (Abrams 2377). This shows the various, daily routines humans endure, rather they enjoy them or not. It is assumed she did not enjoy the tryst, due to her actions in line 250. The next three stanzas discuss the glimpse of an era lost. They discuss an old world, where joy and relaxation where real values.

When he discusses the fishermen lounging at noon, "it is but a momentary glimpse of an almost lost world", (Abrams 2378). Then the song of the Rhine maidens starts. The Rhine maidens, like Tiresias, provide a mythic perspective on the contemporary scene, but do not show any concern about anything. The mood is one of detachment and boredom. At the end, the author uses the phrase "burning burning burning" from Buddha's original speech to signify the burning desires that must be purged. Buddha's speech caused the priests to believe they were on fire with their unholy desires.

This is reiterated in Eliot's poem to suggest the helplessness of mankind. "O Lord Thou pluck est me out", (line 309) is a call to help. The cards of Madam Sosostris depicted the Fisher King. "By identifying with this mythic figure, whose wound or illness is linked to the death of the land, the narrator expresses a sense of guilt and need for restoration, and makes himself an archetypal figure whose sickness pervades human society", (Gish 74). Section Four, titled " Death By Water", seems to be a calm acceptance of the human condition.

The body gently sways on the water. In fact, in lines 316-317, it is said that "as he rose and fell he passed the stages of his age and youth", (Abrams 2380). This may actually be an allusion to a resurrection of the body. It is unclear whether this is meant to signify death, or death before a resurrection. In either case, this section veers drastically from the overall tone of the rest of the poem. It does not exactly tout life, but it does not tout doom and despair as the rest of the poem has.

Therefore, it seems to be a stark contrast to the bleak outlook found in the rest of the poem. The final section, titled "What the Thunder Said", opens with harsh images of Jesus' crucifixion. Lines 323-326 illustrate the pain and suffering. The despair humans feel are summed up in the last lines of the stanza: "We who were living are now dying with a little patience", (Abrams 2380).

This suggests that Eliot is expectantly waiting for death. This is a maxim he reiterated years later, in Journey of the Magi. In the last line of that poem, he says "I should be glad of another death". In the second stanza he brings the reader back to "The Burial of the Dead", with his imagery of the cracked, dry, desert-like wasteland.

He states "here is no water but only rock. Rock and no water and the sandy road". This apparent desolation speaks for the soul of Eliot, who feels alone in this world. His apparent fascination with death, and the escape from life explains why he would feel internally desolate-dry and cracked as the rocks. In the next few stanzas he discusses the rebirth of life without man.

Nature, uninhibited, can thrive and function beautifully. This can be read as an allusion that man is akin to a plague that destroys the earth in his wake. Thus, self-destruction is imminent. Many critics suggest that Eliot did not mean to prophesy doom in this poem. However, his intent became obvious when he wrote The Hollow Men three years later and Journey of the Magi five years after writing The Waste Land. The theme of both of these poems is, once again, death.

He discusses the need to die, and the want of a release from the earth. In The Hollow Men, he says in lines 13-17, "Those who have crossed with direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom-remember us-if at all-not as lost, violent souls, but only as the hollow men. This means that all men are not full if they are alive. Instead of the living forgetting the dead, he implores the dead to remember the living. This speaks from a grim standpoint, and the tone is no different from that of The Waste Land. This one, however, can be interpreted to be from a more religious standpoint.

He could be discussing the hollowness of not knowing God. He could be discussing the emptiness from being single. The poem does not celebrate life, though. That much is certain.

In Journey of the Magi, he ends with "I should be glad of another death", (Abrams 2387). This closing statement tells how Eliot waits expectantly for death. It is similar to the lines found in "What the Thunder Said", in The Waste Land. Eliot seems to enjoy the subject of death, and he speaks of it in a rather celebratory note.

He speaks of life, however, in a depressed state. T.S. Eliot is one of the greatest poets ever. It is safe to say that he is a prophet of doom due to the analysis of his poems. The same grim tone seems to permeate his works, and his celebratory manner of speaking about death seems to show that he wishes to escape from this life. Due to T.S. Eliot's great education, he is able to interweave various poems and stories into his works to make them great and lasting..