Human conditions-T.S Elliot
Poetry is a form of art; it is one’s imagination taking on the world at a certain era and place. Poets use it as a tool to express their ideas on an issue or concept of the world around them. T.S Eliot is an artist of such genre and his poetry is considered to be among the most powerful and influential works of all time. Although it is often difficult to understand at a literal level, it is full of meaning and insight. Throughout his works he expresses his view that human life is debased, trivial and fragmented. ‘Preludes’ and ‘Hollow men’ are both poems written in the early 1900’s that exemplify Eliot’s cynical views and gives little promise of spiritual regeneration. The poet puts across these views through the use of numerous poetic techniques as he both challenges the reader at an intellectual level and horrifies them at an emotional level. ‘Preludes’ and ‘Hollow men’ are poems in which Eliot expresses his negative view of the human condition. Throughout both poems, Eliot continuously portrays human life as debased. In ‘Preludes’ Eliot presents a vivid description of the composition of a soul in today’s society: “ The thousand sordid images of what your soul is constituted they flick
The stanza again highlights Eliot’s view that human life is debased. Eliot expresses the notion that the end of human existence will not come about in a blaze of glory but instead through slow debasement. This slow decadence would be the result of the human race losing its continued desire for spiritual fulfilment. This is conveyed though the use of repetition before the last sentence. The repetition is symbolic of society’s drive and once this determination is lost society is left with nothing, which results in its decadence and its lack of morals and ethics. The finality of this last line and implication that society will go so far as to bring about its own destruction, illustrates that Eliot believes that society is set on its fatal course thus having little if any, chance of spiritual regeneration. T.S Eliot is a revolutionary poet of his time. He depicts and criticises society during this era in both ‘Preludes’ and ‘Hollow men’. Eliot’s work portrays human life as depreciated, corrupt, not connected and insignificant in nature. He displays little hope for moral revivification within both poems. His disappointment and anxiety of the human condition is clearly expressed throughout his work. He also seems to somewhat accept that society is set on its fatal course. I agree that to a larger extent Eliot’s poetry conveys human life as debased, fragmented and trivial. Moreover he makes little promise of any form of spiritual regeneration. Eliot successfully uses his work to comment on the negative state of the human condition and society.
Some topics in this essay:
World War,
TS Eliot,
,
human life,
‘hollow men’,
spiritual regeneration,
human life debased,
view human,
little promise,
life debased,
view human life,
life fragmented,
human life fragmented,
‘preludes’ ‘hollow men’,
material possessions,
human condition,
makes little,
makes little promise,
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Approximate Word count = 1545
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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