'The Hollow Men' by T.S. Eliot

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I

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

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
The stuffed men.

II

Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death's dream kingdom
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind's singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.

Let me be no nearer
In death's dream kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer --

Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom

III

This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man's hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.

Is it like this
In death's other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.

IV

The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In this valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms

In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river

Sightless, unless
The eyes reappear
As the perpetual star
Multifoliate rose
Of death's twilight kingdom
The hope only
Of empty men.

V

Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow

For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow

Life is very long

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the

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.

Editor 1 Interpretation

The Hollow Men: A Journey Through the Abyss

T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men" is a haunting and complex work of modernist poetry. Published in 1925, the poem portrays a world of despair and disillusionment in the aftermath of World War I. Eliot presents the reader with a series of images and fragments that create a sense of emptiness and spiritual decay. The poem is a meditation on the human condition, on the nature of death, and on the possibility of redemption.

The Journey Begins

The poem opens with an epigraph, taken from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness: "Mistah Kurtz—he dead." The epigraph sets the tone for the poem, suggesting that we are about to embark on a journey through the abyss. Eliot then introduces us to the "hollow men," who are "stuffed" and "filled" with straw. These men are a metaphor for the spiritually empty and morally bankrupt individuals who populate Eliot's world.

The World of the Hollow Men

Eliot's world is a bleak and barren landscape. The "eyes" of the hollow men are "dry" and "barren," and the "voices" are "quiet and meaningless." The "shadow" of death hangs over everything, and the men are trapped in a "limbo" between life and death. They are "shape without form, shade without colour," and they are unable to communicate with each other or with the outside world.

The Waste Land

Eliot's poem is often read in conjunction with his earlier work, The Waste Land. The Waste Land is a fragmented and disjointed work that portrays a world in decline. Like The Waste Land, "The Hollow Men" is concerned with the breakdown of communication, the loss of faith, and the struggle for spiritual renewal. Both poems reflect Eliot's belief that the modern world is a "waste land" in which the individual is alienated from society and from God.

The Journey Continues

The second section of the poem is a series of disjointed images and fragments that create a sense of confusion and disorientation. The hollow men are "dried voices," "lost violins," and "cactus land." The images are surreal and dreamlike, suggesting that we are entering into the realm of the subconscious.

The Abyss

The third section of the poem is the heart of the work. Here, Eliot takes us into the abyss, into the realm of the dead. The hollow men are "lost" and "sightless," and they are unable to find their way out of the darkness. They are "hollow" and "stuffed," and they are unable to feel anything. Eliot presents us with a vision of a world without meaning or purpose, a world in which the individual is trapped in a cycle of despair and hopelessness.

The Journey Ends

The final section of the poem is a prayer for redemption. Eliot asks for the "strength to bear the unbearable," and he calls upon the "gods" to give him the "courage to endure." The poem ends with the image of the "whisper" and the "song," suggesting that there is still hope for the hollow men. The whisper and the song represent the possibility of communication and connection, and they offer a glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak landscape.

Interpretation

"The Hollow Men" is a complex and multi-layered work that can be interpreted in a number of different ways. At its core, the poem is a meditation on the human condition and on the nature of death. Eliot presents us with a world in which the individual is trapped in a cycle of despair and hopelessness, and he suggests that this is the result of spiritual emptiness and moral decay.

The hollow men are a metaphor for the spiritually empty and morally bankrupt individuals who populate Eliot's world. They are unable to communicate with each other or with the outside world, and they are trapped in a "limbo" between life and death. Eliot suggests that this is the result of a breakdown in communication and a loss of faith.

The poem can also be read as a commentary on the aftermath of World War I. The war had a profound impact on Eliot, and he was deeply disillusioned by the social and cultural changes that followed. "The Hollow Men" can be seen as a reflection of the spiritual and moral decay that Eliot witnessed in the aftermath of the war.

Overall, "The Hollow Men" is a powerful and haunting work that explores some of the most fundamental questions of the human condition. Eliot presents us with a bleak and barren landscape, but he also offers a glimmer of hope in the final section of the poem. The whisper and the song represent the possibility of communication and connection, and they offer a way out of the abyss.

Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation

The Hollow Men: A Masterpiece of Modernist Poetry

T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men" is a haunting and enigmatic poem that explores the themes of disillusionment, despair, and spiritual emptiness in the aftermath of World War I. Written in 1925, at the height of the modernist movement, the poem reflects the fragmentation and alienation of the post-war era, as well as the author's own spiritual crisis and search for meaning in a world that seemed to have lost its moral compass.

At its core, "The Hollow Men" is a meditation on the human condition, on the fragility and transience of life, and on the existential angst that arises from the realization of our own mortality. The poem is structured in five sections, each of which explores a different aspect of the human experience, from the physical to the metaphysical, from the mundane to the transcendent.

The first section of the poem sets the tone for the rest of the work, with its stark and haunting imagery of "the dead land" and "the cactus land". The opening lines, "We are the hollow men / We are the stuffed men", immediately establish the central metaphor of the poem, that of the human being as an empty vessel, devoid of soul or purpose. The repetition of the phrase "shape without form, shade without colour" reinforces this sense of spiritual emptiness, as does the image of the "dried voices" and the "quiet and meaningless" gestures of the hollow men.

The second section of the poem introduces the theme of memory and the past, as the speaker reflects on the "lost kingdoms" and "broken temples" of his youth. The image of the "broken jaw of our lost kingdoms" suggests the violence and destruction of war, while the reference to "the sound of horns and motors" evokes the modern industrial world that has replaced the pastoral idyll of the past. The repetition of the phrase "the eyes are not here" emphasizes the sense of loss and absence that pervades the poem, as does the image of the "lost laughter" and the "lost voices" that haunt the hollow men.

The third section of the poem introduces the figure of the "shadow", which represents the darker aspects of the human psyche, such as fear, guilt, and shame. The image of the "shadow under this red rock" suggests the hidden and repressed aspects of the self, while the reference to "the broken Coriolanus" alludes to the tragic hero of Shakespeare's play, who is torn between his loyalty to Rome and his own pride and ambition. The repetition of the phrase "the dead tree gives no shelter" reinforces the sense of isolation and despair that characterizes the hollow men, as does the image of the "dry stone no sound of water".

The fourth section of the poem introduces the theme of religion and spirituality, as the speaker reflects on the "lost kingdom" of heaven and the "broken sacrament" of the Christian faith. The image of the "strawberry music" suggests the sweetness and innocence of childhood, while the reference to "the supplication of a dead man's hand" alludes to the futility and absurdity of prayer. The repetition of the phrase "the eyes are not here" emphasizes the absence of God or any transcendent meaning in the world of the hollow men, as does the image of the "shadow" that falls between the speaker and the "redeemer".

The final section of the poem brings together the various themes and motifs of the previous sections, as the speaker reflects on the "death's dream kingdom" and the "hollow valley". The image of the "dying stars" suggests the fading of hope and the approach of the end, while the reference to "the broken glass" alludes to the shattered illusions and false promises of the modern world. The repetition of the phrase "the hollow men" reinforces the sense of spiritual emptiness and moral decay that pervades the poem, as does the image of the "whisper of the dead" that haunts the hollow men.

In conclusion, "The Hollow Men" is a masterpiece of modernist poetry that explores the themes of disillusionment, despair, and spiritual emptiness in the aftermath of World War I. Through its haunting imagery, its complex symbolism, and its fragmented structure, the poem captures the sense of alienation and fragmentation that characterized the modernist era, as well as the author's own spiritual crisis and search for meaning in a world that seemed to have lost its moral compass. Despite its bleak and pessimistic tone, however, the poem also suggests the possibility of redemption and transcendence, as the speaker looks beyond the "hollow men" and the "dead land" to the "hope only of empty men".

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