Death and Creation in The Hollow Men :: Hollow Men Essays

Throughout the semester, we have read many poems by many well-known authors. All of these poems were worthy of the literary merit they received, still I would like to write this paper on a poem that is equ eithery as wonderful. I will be writing this paper on T.S. Eliots The Hollow Men. This is an incredibly poetic work that is just simply brilliant. I will be discussing how Eliot constantly uses finish and creation images to strengthen the estimation of the poem. Throughout this entire poem, there is an ever-present theme of death. There is non a single stanza where there is not something that is dead. The beauty of his verse makes even injustice and death sound appealing. Shape without form, shade without colour, Paralysed force, gesture without motion. This verse al ace gives a beautifully haunting image of darkness and death. This is a descriptive adjectival for the kingdom of death in which the hollow men reside. Deaths kingdom, the dead land, dying stars, and fading star s are all images of death that Eliot uses to stress the ever-present theme of death in this poem. The way that he links it all together almost makes the reader want to become one of the hollow men. One of the things about this poem that makes it so interesting, is the fact that despite the ever-present theme of death, Eliot throws in a few images of creation to counteract it. In stanza four, the lines Sightless, unless The eyes reappear As the perpetual star, Multifoliate rose Of deaths twilight kingdom. The hope only Of empty men creates the image of re-creation as a possibility of these hollow men. This is their only hope, and in a way, is like the creation of the world for them. The reappearing eyes almost serve as their saviour. surrounded by the conception And the creation, Between the emotion And the response Falls the Shadow is also an image of creation. It is a subtle implication of life and death falls in to existence after creation. Eliots poetic style here is simply out standing. There is also a religious undertone tied in with all of Eliots images of death and creation. It seems that every mention of death gives a religious image as well. The poem always speaks of deaths kingdom, and is not deaths kingdom part of the kingdom of God? I definitely get a religious image in my mind, as do, I suspect, most readers, when I see the line For Thine is the Kingdom repeated on more than one occasion.