T.S. Eliot

Question 1

Eliot’s encounter with Ezra Pound

Answer 1

Shortly after arriving in London, T.S. Eliot met Ezra Pound, who helped publish his poem ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ in Poetry magazine.

Question 2

Notable Works

Answer 2

Published ‘The Waste Land’ in 1922, ‘Four Quartets’ in 1943, and multiple plays that significantly contributed to the literary canon.

Question 3

The First World War

Answer 3

The First World War had a profound impact on artistic movements as artists tried to process the trauma of the war. The drabness and melancholy of Eliot’s work reflects this.

Question 4

Artistic Responses to Urbanization

Answer 4

Urbanization led to a disconnection from nature, resulting in a romanticization of nature in art. There was a shift from nature as feared in Shakespeare’s plays to cities being portrayed as malignant in Charles Dickens’ works.

Question 5

Romanticism

Answer 5

Opposed universal, objective truth and emphasized emotionality and connection to nature.

Question 6

Realism and Naturalism

Answer 6

Reacted against Romanticism by depicting the world as it truly is, with Naturalism focusing on innate human character driven by instinct. T.S. Eliot’s works are foundational to modernism, introducing a whole new style of poetry.

Question 7

Modernism

Answer 7

A literary, social, and political movement seeking meaning and authenticity in rapidly changing, industrialized societies.

Question 8

Views on New Criticism

Answer 8

Although associated with New Criticism, Eliot criticized aspects of it, such as over-analysis - the “lemon-squeezer school of criticism” - or discounting of emotional responses.
However, he did speak in favour of ideas very much in line with New Criticism, such as the lack of a needed to assess authorial intent and rejecting the notion of one true meaning to a work.

Question 9

Stream-of-Consciousness Style in Preludes

Answer 9

• Free-verse style mirrors the flow of thoughts and perceptions.
• Creates a natural and immersive reading experience.
• Enhances the sense of immediacy and realism.
• Captures the complexity of urban consciousness.

Question 10

Winter Symbolism in Preludes

Answer 10

• Winter represents endings and decay.
• Implies a sense of sleep or death.
• Coldness symbolizes discomfort and hostility.
• Sets a tone of desolation and finality.

Question 11

Olfactory Imagery in Preludes

Answer 11

Example: “smell of steaks in passageways”
Effect: Evokes a sense of normalcy and routine, and reflects the socio-economic context of the setting while highlightinh the mundane aspects of urban existence. Imagery has become outdated over time.

Question 12

Visual Imagery in Preludes

Answer 12

Example: “They flickered against the ceiling”
Effect: Renders images tangible and situates them within the setting.

Question 13

Aural Imagery in Preludes

Answer 13

Example: “And you heard the sparrows in the gutters”
Effect: Evokes hope and introduces an element of contrast in the dreary environment.

Question 14

Tactile Imagery in Preludes

Answer 14

Example: “Or clasped the yellow soles of feet / In the palms of both soiled hands”
Effect: Grounds the poem in reality, emphasizing the physical and earthly aspects. Yellow soles and soiled hands symbolize degradation and being tainted by urban life.

Question 15

Fear of Aging in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Answer 15

• Prufrock’s anxiety about aging is evident in his self-consciousness about physical changes like thinning hair and body proportions.
• He measures his life in mundane routines like coffee spoons, reflecting a sense of time slipping away.
• The imagery of growing old and wearing trousers rolled up symbolizes his acknowledgment of aging and loss of vitality.
• His contemplation of eating a peach and parting his hair signifies his hesitation towards embracing youthful pleasures.

Question 16

Symbolism of Mermaids in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Answer 16

• The mermaids symbolize unattainable beauty and allure, highlighting Prufrock’s sense of inadequacy and longing for connection.
• Their silence towards him reflects his fear of rejection and isolation, reinforcing his insecurities.
• The poem’s conclusion with drowning amidst sea-girls wreathed in seaweed suggests a dream-like escape from reality into a surreal, yet unsettling fantasy.
• The juxtaposition of daydreams and harsh realities reflects Prufrock’s internal conflict between desire and self-doubt.

Question 17

Chronological timeline in Rhapsody on a Windy Night

Answer 17

The poem’s chronological order enhances the stream-of-consciousness style, allowing insights into the protagonist’s fragmented thoughts - “Twelve o’clock. / Half-past one / Half-past two / Half-past three” The poem also jumps from place to place – a cat, a child, a crab – in a way that feels very flow-of-consciousness.

Question 18

The Moon in Rhapsody on a Windy Night

Answer 18

• The moon conveys mystery and irrationality, influencing the protagonist’s perception of the world.
• The moon’s de-romanticized portrayal challenges traditional associations, suggesting a bleak outlook on life. - “The moon has lost her memory. / A washed-out smallpox cracks her face, / Her hand twists a paper rose, / That smells of dust and old Cologne, / She is alone”

Question 19

The title of The Hollow Men

Answer 19

Inspired by ‘The Hollow Land’ by William Morris and ‘The Broken Men’ by Kipling.

Question 20

Who are “The Hollow Men”?

Answer 20

• People lacking purpose or spiritual fulfillment, metaphorically represented as individuals in purgatory.
• The poem is an exploration of the emptiness and detachment experienced by these individuals.
• “We are the hollow men / We are the stuffed men / Leaning together / Headpiece filled with straw.”

Question 21

Historical and Religious Meanings of ‘Magi’

Answer 21

• Originally denoted Persian Zoroastrian Priests, now refers to astrologers/magicians.
• In the poem, it signifies the three wise men, highlighting their foreignness and connection to older religious traditions.

Question 22

Religious Conversion in Journey of the Magi

Answer 22

• The poem can be seen as a religious conversion narrative reflecting Eliot’s own shift to Anglo-Catholicism.
• Tone of the poem mirrors other works in its exploration of faith, hope, and spiritual emptiness.

Question 23

The stages of The Journey of the Magi

Answer 23

• The poem explores the transition from one state to another, symbolizing both endings and beginnings, and repeated references to birth and death emphasize this theme.
• The three verses of the poem show the journey, the arrival at the destination, and then skip over the birth to the narrator now old and looking back.

Question 24

Intertextuality in Journey of the Magi

Answer 24

Opening quote from Bishop Lancelot Andrews’ sermon establishes intertextual connection.

Question 25

Impact of Intertextual References in The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock

Answer 25

• References in ‘Love Song’ to Dante’s Inferno and other literary works may require background knowledge for full understanding.
• Some references in Eliot’s works, like the one to John the Baptist, may be misinterpreted without proper context.
• Direct references, like to Prince Hamlet, are more understandable to audiences even without detailed knowledge of the source material.

Question 26

Cultural Context in Preludes

Answer 26

• In ‘Preludes,’ sensory imagery creates a photomontage of everyday life, with some images becoming less relatable to modern audiences.
• The “smell of steaks in passageways” have very different implication now.
• Certain images in ‘Preludes,’ like the dawn breaking through shutters, still resonate with contemporary audiences.

Question 27

Universal Themes

Answer 27

• Simple lines like ‘And in short, I was afraid’ in ‘Love Song’ tap into universal human experiences.
• In ‘Preludes,’ Eliot comments on the human condition within the context of urbanization, making clear and universal statements.
• The emotional, human nature of Eliot’s works allows them to connect deeply with audiences over a century later.

Question 28

“The winter evening settles down”, “morning comes to consciousness”,

Preludes (1911)

Answer 28

These quotes are built on personification of the time of day. Frequently these things reflect a feeling from a character, or a group of characters. It could be considered less personification and more just the environment taking on the human characteristics of its inhabitants.

Question 29

“And then the lighting of the lamps”

Preludes (1911)

Answer 29

Preludes includes a lot of playing with line breaks, pauses, punctuation - the gap before this line gives a moment to breathe, makes it a separate, sequential image instead of simply a continuation of the last.

Question 30

“The conscience of a blackened street / Impatient to assume the world.”

Preludes (1911)

Answer 30

The street is consistently framed as one entity, composed of its inhabitants - “the street” is less a place and ore a collective, one that can be impatient, and misunderstand itself.

Question 31

“His soul stretched tight across the skies / That fade behind a city block”

Preludes (1911)

Answer 31

Frequent use of metaphor - consider the lines about a soul being “trampled by insistent feet”, which implies this man is worn down by the day-to-day of the street. This connects back to him “washing away” the street at the beginning.

Question 32

“Or trampled by insistent feet / At four and five and six o’clock”

Preludes (1911)

Answer 32

The rhythm of the words is utilised very intentionally - feet move along the street and four-and-five-and-six-o’clock, the phrasing feels rhythmic, echoes that movement.

Question 33

“Let us go then, you and I”

The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock (1915)

Answer 33

This direct adress and personal invitation serves to almost induct the reader into the poem, drawing them in.

Question 34

“When the evening is spread out against the sky / Like a patient etherized upon a table”

The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock (1915)

Answer 34

A lot of metaphor and simile is used throughout the poem, frequently quite morbid in tone. The accepted comparison points for an evening are more often softly settling things, blankets or silence, rather than such a clinical image. This connects to the themes of ageing throughout the poem, as well as making the night feel like something waiting to be dissected, or otherwise fixed.

Question 35

“To lead you to an overwhelming question… / Oh, do not ask, “What is it?” / Let us go and make our visit.”

The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock (1915)

Answer 35

A lot of implicit dialogue throughout, as we see the POV character’s reactions to statements, or possible statements. He has a question to ask, and does not want to ask it, so he pushes to move on with the evening’s plans. It is often unclear which parts of the poem might be spoken aloud.

Question 36

“The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes, / The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes, / Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening, / Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains, / Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys, / Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap, / And seeing that it was a soft October night, / Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.”

The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock (1915)

Answer 36

Zoomorphism is used here. The fog is is given the distinct characteristics of cat, its movements described as though it has some level of intent. This makes it feel like a far more solid presence, something significantly tangible and intent on touch.

Question 37

“In the room the women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo.”

The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock (1915)

Answer 37

Repetition is used throughout the poem on a small and large scale. This line is repeated twice, to bring us back to the scene. Additionally, the phrase “do I dare” is both repeated within lines (“To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?””) and throughout the poem (a few lines later: “Do I dare / Disturb the universe?”

Question 38

“I grow old… I grow old… / I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.”

The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock (1915)

Answer 38

Symbols are brought up often, especially of aging - the character references balding, and then rolling his trousers, parting his hair differently, etc.

Question 39

“We have lingered in the chambers of the sea / By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown / Till human voices wake us, and we drown.”

The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock (1915)

Answer 39

The mermaids are framed as a fantasy, and do not hurt the narrator directly - rather, he is held suspended in the water, enchanted by these ‘sea-girls’, unharmed… until he is snapped from the fantasy, and drowns. The fantasies are presented as the safe world, the real world the unsafe place to be.

Question 40

“a pair of ragged claws / Scuttling across the floors of silent seas”

The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock (1915)

Answer 40

There are persistent links to the ocean throughout the poem - not just in regards to the mermaids, but the oyster shells in restaurants, and here too. This whole poem smells like sea salt and city smog.

Question 41

“Twelve o’clock. / Half-past one / Half-past two / Half-past three”

Rhapsody on a Windy Night (1917)

Answer 41

There is a lot of reputation in this poem, and it has a lot more rhythm to it than the previous. This likely connects of the motifs of time passing in even hours, lamps beating like drums, etc.

Question 42

“Dissolve the floors of memory / And all its clear relations”

Rhapsody on a Windy Night (1917)

Answer 42

The journey is through the city, but also through the memories of the narrator. Movement through memory is made physical with images like dissolving floors.

Question 43

“Midnight shakes the memory / As a madman shakes a dead geranium.”

Rhapsody on a Windy Night (1917)

Answer 43

Midnight is personified, as something taking action upon those physicalised memories. This allows the poem to feel like an interaction between the night and the memories, almost catching the narrator in the middle.

Question 44

“Regard that woman / Who hesitates towards you in the light of the door / Which opens on her like a grin. / You see the border of her dress / Is torn and stained with sand, / And you see the corner of her eye / Twists like a crooked pin.”

Rhapsody on a Windy Night (1917)

Answer 44

Human connection is presented as almost threatening, the women in the doorway uncanny, possible a trap. The sand on the hem of her dress and the twisting of her eye makes her feel distinctly uncanny.

Question 45

“The lamp sputtered, / The lamp muttered in the dark. / The lamp hummed”

Rhapsody on a Windy Night (1917)

Answer 45

Repetition is common, especially in lines beginning with “the lamp”. This again creates a rhythm to the poem, a consistent loop, in the style of pacing footsteps.

Question 46

“Smells of chestnuts in the streets, / And female smells in shuttered rooms, / And cigarettes in corridors / And cocktail smells in bars.”

Rhapsody on a Windy Night (1917)

Answer 46

A lot of sensory imagery is used, especially within the memories visited. Smell is often connected to memory, and is emphasised often.

Question 47

“Here is the number on the door. / Memory! / You have the key, / The little lamp spreads a ring on the stair, / Mount.”

Rhapsody on a Windy Night (1917)

Answer 47

The smaller lamp on the stairs is a juxtaposition to the streetlamps, summoning a present memory instead of one long in the past – a home-lamp, not one of journeys.

Question 48

“Put your shoes at the door, sleep, prepare for life. / The last twist of the knife.”

Rhapsody on a Windy Night (1917)

Answer 48

Second person POV serves to place the reader within the poem.

Question 49

“We are the hollow men / We are the stuffed men”

The Hollow Men (1925)

Answer 49

These lines are commenting on how these people are without purpose/spiritual fulfilment, and therefore are seeking fulfilment in things that still leave them empty.

Question 50

“The eyes are not here / There are no eyes here”

The Hollow Men (1925)

Answer 50

This is in reference to the eyes of Heaven or death, referenced in the previous section as “Eyes I dare not meet in dreams / In death’s dream kingdom”. Our central character cannot be judged, nor can he die, as long as he remains here in this hollow, desolate place. He fears finding meaning or truth, and so he remains ‘hollow’.

Question 51

“For Thine is / Life is / For thine is the”

The Hollow Men (1925)

Answer 51

These lines mimic the previous refrain, and make the poem seem like it is devolving, like maybe there are no further sections because the speaker lost the capacity to communicate at all. The idea of a ‘whimper’ as the end of the world is represented here, in the way the poem itself ends.

Question 52

“This is the way the world ends / This is the way the world ends / This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper”

The Hollow Men (1925)

Answer 52

The repetition of ‘This is the way the world ends’ creates a sense of incantation or childishness, contrasting with the theme of apocalypse. This reframes the ‘end of the world’, not as something massive and cataclysmic, but as a small thing, almost pitiful - the world simply trails off into nothing, almost unheard. This contrast emphasises the tragedy of the event, and introduces the idea that it could happen without our noticing.

Question 53

“A cold coming we had of it, / Just the worst time of the year / For a journey, and such a long journey: / The ways deep and the weather sharp, / The very dead of winter.”

Journey of the Magi (1927)

Answer 53

This is a quote from 1620s Bishop Lancelot Andrews’ sermon of Christmas, adopting the voice of one of the Magi. This intertextual reference helps to establish the tone and setting efficiently.

Question 54

“And three trees on the low sky, / And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow. / Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver, / And feet kicking the empty wine-skins. / But there was no information, and so we continued”

Journey of the Magi (1927)

Answer 54

This section of the poem is foreshadowing Jesus’ eventual death, with symbols like the silver pieces, wine, and ‘trees’ showing how the story beginning here is going to end up. This leads into the final verse, reflecting on the birth and death seen at once in this moment.

Question 55

“Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory”

Journey of the Magi (1927)

Answer 55

This little aside to the audience helps to establish the idea of this very mythic figure as a real person, as well as being a little sad or ironic.

Question 56

“…but set down / This set down / This: were we led all that way for / Birth or Death?”

Journey of the Magi (1927)

Answer 56

Another intertextual reference, this one to Othello. It pulls on the feeling of that scene, the regret and doubt Othello feels, as well as being from the moment right before he kills himself, and right after he kills his wife.

Question 57

“I had seen birth and death, / But had thought they were different; this Birth was / Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.”

Journey of the Magi (1927)

Answer 57

This seemingly paradoxical conflation of birth and death can be seen to refer to both Jesus Christ being ‘born to die’ in a very literal sense, and the effects that birth had on the religions the Magi followed.

Question 58

“We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, / But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation, / With an alien people clutching their gods.”

Journey of the Magi (1927)

Answer 58

The juxtaposition of ownership here - they are “our places”, but now “their gods” - show the alienation from their homes.

Question 59

“I should be glad of another death.”

Journey of the Magi (1927)

Answer 59

This line combined with the Othello reference above and the general tone makes this whole poem read like a suicide note.