Poets are influential!

They transcend time and portray their complex

and powerful understanding of the human experience, in a way that
captivates and provokes their audience. To commemorate this
years international poetry festival, we will be focusing on the father
of modern poetry himself, Thomas Stearns Eliot! Whilst I could
speak at length on the matter, time has coaxed me to pivot upon
one gem in Elliots gallery, his masterful poem, The Hollow men.
This piece focuses on the themes of indecision and the loss of
identity, whilst exploring the effects on those who experience them.
Eliots powerful exploration of indecision in the desolate world
created in the Hollow Men has allowed me to understand how a
paralyzed way of life can force one to become emotionally deficient,
alienated and ultimately helpless to their condition. Something that
caught my eye was the constant repetition, where over 1/3rd of the
words in the poem contain it , highlighting the paralyzed and
cyclical animation of the hollow men. This is reiterated through
Eliots Short sentence Alas!, highlighting the hollow mens inability
to change their fate as they reflect on the past in a scant manner.
Eliot conveys this paralysis by paralleling these internally void men
with scarecrows through the wind motif, where he describes them as
behaving as the wind behaves, no nearer.. The use of enjambment
in this sentence emphasizes their lack of free will, something that I
found to be echoed in the humanist beleifs, focusing on the mens
inability to decide their own fate. Eliot powerfully explores the
implications of this mindless lifestyle through the allusion to Romeo
and Juliet, where their romantic life is juxtaposed with the hollow
men who are trembling with tenderness yet unable to kiss. The
suppression of emotion is a constant theme in Eliots work,
prominently contained within his other poems such as the love song
of J Alfred Prufrock. However this concept still seemed strange to
me, almost foreign, however Domesticos comment allowed me to
perceive the hollow men as a despairing piece symptomatic of a
generation scarred by war. The severe disregard for human life
during the First world war made the hollow men helpless to their
surroundings, forcing them to submit to their condition as seen
through the assonance of let me wear such deliberate disguises,
rats coat, crow skin crossed staves.. These charades to avoid
judgment causes the hollow men embrace their futile fate and
climatically turn into empty men. The way which Eliot identifies and
explores the effects of paralysis allows his work to transcend
through time helping us as modern audience understand its
implications.
Eliot seminally explores the loss of identity and how it can causes
one to become disconnect to the world, ultimately seeking salvation
to restore natural order. Eliot establishes the loss of identity in The
hollow men with 2 epigraphs, depicting the theme of dead souls by

alluding to Guy Fawkes and Kurtz from the heart of darkness. Eliot
powerfully explores the loss of self through the use anaphora in the
sentences we are the hollow men, the stuffed men.. Not only does
this highlight the alienation but the collective pronoun makes us all
think, who are the hollow men, could we be them? Our generation is
constantly criticized of becoming anti social puppets, yet Eliot was
able to explore similar notions over a hundred years ago by
highlighting the hollow mens detatchment. In Section 2 a
synecdoche is employed to represent the hollow mens
disconnection from society, as they more distant and solemn than a
fading star. Craig raine reiterates this by saying the hollow men
have failed to live as they abstained, causing them to become
depleted and un-vital. In an attempt to restore their fertility, these
men seek salvation through idolatry, most notable through the
frantic dance around the Prickly pear, parodying the mulberry bush
nursery rhyme. However this plea of hope is futile as eliot uses the
shadow as a symbol which halts natural flow, standing between
things like ideas and reality. The shadow is able to rejuvenate the
world by cleansing it of the hollow men, a concept echoed by Eliots
own hatred of indecision and the Christian beleifs towards pagans
and their inability to accomplish salvation. Eliot than cyclically
returns to the Guy Fawkes allusion in the concluding lines, This is the
way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper. This ironic and
powerful statement alludes to the failure of the gunpowder plot,
cementing the hollow mens futile fate. It is through the analysis of
Eliots influential concepts that we are able to understand and
appreciate his caliber as a poet.
Eliots impeccable language and resonating themes act as catalyst,
helping us to perceive the human condition. His focus on identity
and Paralysis encourages us to make a change in this complex
world, despite his work being written nearly a hundred years ago. As
Eliot himself once said genuine poetry can communicate before it
is understood, a perfect summation of his own work. The reason
Eliots poetry is still truly worthy of study is because he left this
world not with a whimper but a bang! Thank you and enjoy the rest
of the night.

Poets are influential! They transcend

time and portray their complex and
powerful understanding of the human
experience, in a way that captivates and
provokes us as an audience. To
commemorate this years international
poetry festival, we will be focusing on
the father of modern poetry himself,
Thomas Stearns Eliot! Whilst I could
speak at length on the matter, time has
coaxed me to pivot upon one gem in
Elliots gallery, his masterful poem, The
Hollow men.

This piece focuses on the themes of

indecision and the loss of identity, whilst
exploring the effects on those who
experience them.

Something that caught my eye was the

constant repetition, where over 1/3rd of
the words in the poem contain it ,
highlighting the paralyzed and cyclical
animation of the hollow men. This is
reiterated through Eliots Short sentence
Alas!, highlighting the hollow mens
inability to change their fate as they
reflect on the past in a scant manner.
Eliot conveys this paralysis by
paralleling these internally void men
with scarecrows through the wind motif,
where he describes them as behaving
as the wind behaves, no nearer..
The suppression of emotion is a constant
theme in Eliots work, prominently
contained within his other poems such
as the love song of J Alfred Prufrock.
However this concept still seemed
strange to me, almost foreign, but
Domesticos comment provided clarity,
allowing me to perceive the hollow
men as a despairing piece symptomatic
of a generation scarred by war.

The use of enjambment in this sentence

emphasizes their lack of free will,
something that I found to be echoed in
the humanist beliefs, which focus on the
mens inability to decide their own fate.
Eliot powerfully explores the implications
of this mindless lifestyle through the
allusion to Romeo and Juliet, where their
romantic life is juxtaposed to the hollow
men who are trembling with
tenderness yet unable to kiss.

Eliots powerful exploration of indecision

in the desolate world created in the
Hollow Men has allowed me to
understand how a paralyzed way of life
can force one to become emotionally
deficient, alienated and ultimately
helpless to their condition.

The severe disregard for human life

during the First world war influenced
Eliot to make the hollow men helpless to
their surroundings, forcing them to
submit to their condition as seen
through the assonance of let me wear
such deliberate disguises, rats coat,
crow skin crossed staves.. These
charades to avoid judgment causes the
hollow men embrace their futile fate and
climatically turn into empty men.

The way which Eliot identifies and

explores the effects of paralysis allows
his work to transcend through time
helping us as modern audience
understand its implications.

Eliot also seminally explores the loss of

identity and how it can causes one to
become disconnected fromt the world,
ultimately seeking salvation to restore
natural order. Eliot establishes the loss
of identity in The hollow men with 2
epigraphs, depicting the theme of dead
souls by alluding to Guy Fawkes and
Kurtz from the heart of darkness. Eliot
powerfully explores the loss of self
through the use anaphora in the
sentences we are the hollow men, the
stuffed men..

.. Not only does this highlight the

alienation but the collective pronoun
makes us all think, who are the hollow
men, could we be them? Our generation
is constantly criticized of becoming anti
social puppets, yet Eliot was able to
address similar notions over a hundred
years ago by highlighting the hollow
mens detachment. In Section 2 a
synecdoche is employed to represent
the individual hollow mans
disconnection from society, as they
more distant and solemn than a fading
star.

Craig raine reiterates this by saying the

hollow men have failed to live as they
abstained, causing them to become
depleted and un-vital. In an attempt to
restore their fertility, these men seek
salvation through idolatry, most notable
through the frantic dance around the
Prickly pear, parodying the mulberry
bush nursery rhyme.

However this plea of hope is futile as

eliot uses the shadow as a symbol,
which halts natural flow, standing
between things like ideas and reality.
The shadow is able to rejuvenate the
world by cleansing it of the hollow men,
a concept echoed by Eliots own hatred
of indecision and the Christian beliefs
towards pagans and their inability to
accomplish salvation.

Eliot than cyclically returns to the Guy

Fawkes allusion in the concluding lines,
This is the way the world ends, not with
a bang but a whimper. This ironic and
powerful statement alludes to the failure
of the gunpowder plot, cementing the
hollow mens futile fate. It is through the
analysis of Eliots influential concepts
that we are able to understand and
appreciate his caliber as a poet.

Eliots impeccable language and

resonating themes act as catalyst,
helping us to perceive the human
condition. His focus on identity and
Paralysis encourages us to make a
change in this complex world, despite
his work being written nearly a hundred
years ago. As Eliot himself once said
genuine poetry can communicate before
it is understood, a perfect summation
of his own work.

The reason Eliots poetry is still truly

worthy of study is because he left this
world not with a whimper but a bang!
Thank you and enjoy the rest of the
night.