This poem seemed to have no purpose but to tell a story at first, but after rereading it, I.
found many interesting things that point to something bigger, however, I am not sure what. I.
particularly liked how Eliot announced the time at the beginning of each descriptive section. The.
poem starts with the words "Twelve o"clock." This sets sets the scene and shows the main.
character's obsessive nature. The diction in this poem is greatly descriptive and allows the reader.
to really see things through the narrator's eyes. The first stanza illustrates to the reader the man's.
surroundings and the sounds that he hears in the darkness. The second stanza starts with "Half-.
past one," and once again, uses a very short, simple sentence to have a profound effect on the.
reader. He then begins talking about the street-lamp. "The street-lamp sputtered, The street-lamp.
muttered, The street-lamp said." This makes it seem as if the street-lamp is instructing the.
narrator to do things. The street-lamp tells him to regard a woman with a torn and stained dress.
and an eye that "twists like a crooked pin." He then goes into "a crowd of twisted things" from.
his memory. He remembers a twisted branch upon the beach and a broken spring in a factory.
yard that is "hard and curled and ready to snap." I do believe that this represents something far.
greater than a bed spring, however, I cannot determine what it might be. After that flashback type.
stanza, he begins again with "Half-past two." The street-lamp comes into play and commands.
him to remark a cat, which he compares to a child. The author then speaks of the child's eyes and.
the things he has seen in the street. He just leads one thing into another, as if writing everything.
that occurs in his mind when he sees something. The next stanza begins again with the words.
"Half-past three." The night is getting longer and morning is growing nearer. Again, the lamp.
instructs him to regard the moon.
