ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF T.S. ELIOT’S
THE HOLLOW MEN
Table of contents
1. Introduction.
Description and aims of the paper.
Eliot, a master of the written craft, carefully thought out each aspect of his poem The Hollow Men. Many differences in interpretation exist for Eliot’s complex poetry, since we find an extensive range of facts to consider in this work. As Eliot often intertwined his writing by having one piece relate to another, The Hollow Men is sometimes considered as a mere appendage to The Wasteland. The Hollow Men, however, proves to have many offerings for a reader in and among itself.
Following the idea above, the poem will be treated in isolation in this paper, trying to unravel all the figures, symbols and meanings that Eliot wished to transmit through The Hollow Men, reading onto and between the lines.
Firstly, we will work on an intensive analysis, describing and explaining as accurately as possible all the linguistic, rhetoric and a
THE HOLLOW MEN
by T. S. Eliot
Mistah Kurtz-he dead.
A penny for the Old Guy
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when 5
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar 10
Shape without form shade without colour,
Paralyzed force, gesture without motion;
Those who have crossed
With direct eyes to death's other Kingdom
Remember us--if at all-- not as lost 15
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.
II
Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death's dream kingdom 20
These do not appear:
There the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There is a tree swinging
And voices are 25
In the wind's singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star
Let me be no nearer
In death's dream kingdom 30
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves 35
No nearer--
Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom.
III
This is the dead land
this is cactus land 40
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. More books than SparkNotes.
Buy Study Guide
Summary
Epigraphs
These epigraphs are allusions: one literary and the other historical.
The first refers to Mr. Kurtz, a character in Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness. Kurtz is a corrupt European ivory trader who fashions himself into a demigod to gain power in Africa. He dies on a boat on the Congo River. The narrator Charles Marlow witnesses his death. Kurtz’s last words—"The horror! The horror!"—reveal a final moment of clarity about his own moral transgressions, and by implication the horrors of European imperialism in the name of civilization. This epigraph is a quote from Conrad's book describing the moment after Kurtz's death: “Suddenly the manager's boy put his insolent black head in the doorway, and said in a tone of scathing contempt—‘Mistah Kurtz—he dead.’
The second epigraph—"A penny for the Old Guy"—alludes to Guy Fawkes, a notorious conspirator who tried to blow up British Parliament in the failed Gunpowder Plot of Fawkes was a Catholic seeking to overthrow the Protestant monarchy of King James I. Britons celebrate his downfall on November 5 by burning his likeness
Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri of New England descent, on Sept. 26, He entered Harvard University in , completed his courses in three years, and earned a master&#;s degree the next year.
After a year at the Sorbonne in Paris, he returned to Harvard. Further study led him to Merton College, Oxford, and he decided to stay in England. He worked first as a teacher and then in Lloyd&#;s Bank until Then he joined the London publishing firm of Faber and Gwyer, becoming director when the firm became Faber and Faber in Eliot won the Nobel prize for literature in and other major literary awards.
Eliot saw an exhausted poetic mode being employed, that contained no verbal excitement or original craftsmanship, by the Georgian poets who were active when he settled in London. He sought to make poetry more subtle, more suggestive, and at the same time more precise.
He learned the necessity of clear and precise images, and he learned too, to fear romantic softness and to regard the poetic medium rather than the poet&#;s personality as the important factor. Eliot saw in the French symbolists how an image could be both absolutely precise in what it referred to physic
Biographies you may also like
Natalicio lima biography of georgetown Lima, Natalicio Moreyra (s?-November ) Composer born with the name Erundi, in Ceara, Brazil, as a member of the Tabajara tribe He and his brother, Andalucio, became the Missing: georgetown.
Phin sodalis biography of donald Dr. Donald E. Super was born on July 10, , in Honolulu, Hawaii. His parents were Paul and Margaret Louise (Stump) from Missouri. Super received his Doctorate of Missing: phin sodalis.
Lynn novick biography Filmmaker Lynn Novick has been making documentaries about American history for nearly 25 years. A director and producer, she has been a principal collaborator of Ken Burns since the .
Lil wayne albums discography Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning. Who wrote “Lil Wayne Discography” by Lil Wayne?
Mohan singh malaysia chronicles Mohan holds a Doctorate in Management of Innovation from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He is on the editorial panels of several international journals and is .
John stephen akhwari biography of alberta John Stephen Akhwari, a Tanzanian former marathon runner, represented Tanzania in the Summer Olympics marathon. During the race, he suffered an injury and Missing: alberta.
Shaul shani biography of abraham Four of those on the list are newcomers to the high-rollers club: high-techie Shaul Shani, with $3 billion; diamond polisher Dan Gertler, worth $ billion; banker and oil .