'The Hollow men' by T. S. Eliot (Podcast: Season 2, Episode 2)

Summary

The 'Lit Poetry Podcast' explores T.S. Eliot's 'The Hollow Men,' a modernist poem reflecting on the disillusionment and decay of post-WWI society. Host James Laidler delves into the poem's free verse form, allusive content, and themes of emptiness, suggesting a parallel to contemporary environmental crises. The episode offers an analysis of Eliot's fragmented narrative and its commentary on cultural collapse, inviting listeners to consider the impact of hollow values on our world.

Takeaways

• 🎙️ The 'Lit Poetry Podcast' is hosted by Australian poet and writer James Laidler, who explores and discusses poetry from around the world.
• 📚 The podcast's second season delves into T.S. Eliot's 'The Hollow Men,' a poem reflecting an apocalyptic vision of a morally and spiritually decaying modern world.
• 🌫️ 'The Hollow Men' portrays a world filled with existential uncertainty, where inhabitants are described as 'hollow' and 'stuffed men,' lost and directionless.
• 🌅 The poem was published in 1925, in the aftermath of World War I, reflecting the disillusionment and cultural decay felt by many at the time.
• 🎭 The poem is characterized by its free verse form, lacking a regular rhyme scheme or meter, which mirrors the fragmented state of society.
• 🔍 The podcast discusses the historical and literary context of 'The Hollow Men,' including its association with the modernist movement and its commentary on the changing societal structures of the early 20th century.
• 📜 Eliot's use of allusions to other literary works, such as 'The Heart of Darkness' and 'The Great Gatsby,' enriches the poem's themes of cultural decline and moral emptiness.
• 🌌 The poem employs various poetic techniques, including metaphors, similes, repetition, and allusions, to convey a sense of desolation and the loss of cultural certainty.
• 👁️ The 'eyes' in the poem symbolize the power of observation and judgment, with the 'hollow men' unable to meet this gaze, indicating their disconnection from truth and morality.
• 🏞️ The setting of 'The Hollow Men' is described as a desolate and barren landscape, symbolizing the state of European culture at the time and possibly reflecting the impact of war.
• 🌿 The podcast suggests a modern interpretation of 'The Hollow Men,' drawing parallels between the poem's themes and contemporary issues such as environmental degradation and societal emptiness.

Q & A

What is the main theme of T.S. Eliot's poem 'The Hollow Men'?

The main theme of 'The Hollow Men' is the moral, cultural, and spiritual decay of the modern world, depicting a society filled with hollow, lost individuals in a state of existential uncertainty.

How does the poem 'The Hollow Men' reflect the post-World War I era?

The poem reflects the post-World War I era through its apocalyptic vision of a society in disrepair and confusion, with individuals described as 'husks of humanity' wandering aimlessly, mirroring the disillusionment and loss felt by many after the war.

What is the significance of the 'hollow men' in the poem?

The 'hollow men' symbolize the emptiness and lack of substance in people's lives, representing a generation that has lost its way and purpose, unable to find meaning or direction in a rapidly changing world.

How does the poem use the imagery of 'death's dream kingdom'?

The 'death's dream kingdom' is used to describe a desolate and lifeless realm that the hollow men inhabit, a place devoid of hope and vitality, reflecting the spiritual and emotional emptiness they experience.

What is the role of allusions in 'The Hollow Men'?

Allusions in 'The Hollow Men' serve to connect the poem to a broader literary and cultural context, drawing on works like 'The Heart of Darkness' and 'Paradise Lost' to enrich the poem's themes of decay, disillusionment, and the decline of European culture.

What poetic devices are used in 'The Hollow Men' to convey its themes?

The poem employs various poetic devices such as metaphors, similes, repetition, assonance, alliteration, enjambment, and allusions to convey its themes and create a sense of fragmentation and disorientation.

How does the poem's structure contribute to its overall mood?

The poem's structure, characterized by free verse and irregular stanza lengths, contributes to its overall mood by reflecting the chaos and disorganization of the world it describes, reinforcing the sense of disarray and despair.

What is the significance of the 'prickly pear' in the poem?

The 'prickly pear' represents the harsh and unyielding environment in which the hollow men exist, a place of suffering and struggle, symbolizing the difficult and painful reality they face.

How does the poem's ending, 'not with a bang but a whimper,' relate to its themes?

The ending signifies that the world does not end in a grand, dramatic event but rather in a quiet, insignificant manner, reflecting the poem's themes of emptiness and the gradual decline of meaning and purpose in life.

What is the role of the narrator in 'The Hollow Men'?

The narrator is a member of the hollow men, describing their state of being with a sense of detachment and despair. The narrator's voice, along with the appearance of another voice in the fifth section, contributes to the poem's exploration of alienation and the search for meaning.

How does 'The Hollow Men' connect to other works of literature, such as 'The Great Gatsby'?

The poem's themes of disillusionment and the decline of culture influenced authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald, who incorporated similar imagery and modernist outlooks in his work 'The Great Gatsby,' particularly in the description of the 'valley of ashes.'

Outlines

00:00

🎙️ Introduction to 'The Hollow Men'

The podcast episode begins with an introduction to T.S. Eliot's poem 'The Hollow Men,' setting the stage for a deep dive into its themes and historical context. The host, James Laidler, an Australian poet and writer, outlines the podcast's focus on poetry's transformative power. He emphasizes the poem's depiction of a world in moral and spiritual decay, inhabited by 'hollow men' lost in existential uncertainty. The episode promises an exploration of Eliot's apocalyptic vision of modern society, influenced by the aftermath of World War I.

05:02

📜 Historical and Literary Context of 'The Hollow Men'

This section delves into the historical and literary background of 'The Hollow Men,' situating it within the modernist movement. The modernist era, marked by a reaction to rapid societal changes, saw artists like Eliot experimenting with new forms of expression to capture the sense of disorientation and disillusionment prevalent in post-World War I society. The poem's fragmented structure and language reflect the crumbling Western culture and the loss of confidence in traditional values. The host also draws parallels between Eliot's work and F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby,' highlighting the influence of modernist themes on contemporary literature.

10:02

📝 Poetic Form and Narrator Analysis

The analysis of 'The Hollow Men' continues with a focus on its form, meter, and rhyme, as well as the poem's narrator. The poem's free verse structure, lacking a regular rhyme scheme or meter, mirrors the disorder and chaos of the subject matter. The use of slant rhymes and the absence of a fixed pattern contribute to the poem's unsettling mood. The narrator is portrayed as part of the 'hollow men,' a group emblematic of a generation scarred by war and unable to find meaning in their crumbling cultural landscape. The setting is described as a bleak, desolate underworld, reinforcing the themes of decay and hopelessness.

15:04

🌐 Allusions and Poetic Techniques in 'The Hollow Men'

This part of the podcast explores the rich use of allusions and poetic techniques in 'The Hollow Men.' The poem is described as a 'literary trash heap,' layering references to European literature to symbolize the decline of culture. Allusions to works like Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' and Dante's 'Purgatory' are analyzed for their contribution to the poem's themes of emptiness and loss of cultural moorings. The use of epigraphs, biblical references, and the distortion of a children's song add depth to the poem's commentary on the hollowness of modern society.

20:06

🌿 Themes of Loss and Cultural Decay

The final part of the podcast centers on the central themes of 'The Hollow Men,' particularly the loss of culture and the emptiness experienced by the poem's characters. The 'hollow men' are depicted as fragmented, alienated figures struggling to find their place in a world that has lost its moral and spiritual grounding. The poem's imagery of disease, death, and a barren landscape underscores the danger these characters pose to society. The host connects the poem's themes to contemporary issues, suggesting that our own 'hollow values' may be shaping the world around us in ways that reflect our inner emptiness.

25:08

🎧 Conclusion and Upcoming Episode Preview

The podcast concludes with a summary of the discussion on 'The Hollow Men' and a preview of the next episode, which will feature a poem by Ali Whitelock. The host expresses excitement about an upcoming video poem and interview, encouraging listeners to subscribe to the podcast or YouTube channel for more poetry resources. The episode ends with a call to support the podcast's efforts to produce audiovisual interpretations of poems, including the costs of hiring voice-over artists and purchasing music licenses.

Keywords

💡Poetry

Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language to evoke emotions and convey ideas. In the video, poetry is presented as a transformative act with the power to change both the reader and society, emphasizing its importance and relevance in cultural discourse.

💡T.S. Eliot

T.S. Eliot is a prominent modernist poet whose work is featured in the video. His poem 'The Hollow Men' is analyzed, reflecting his exploration of modern society's disillusionment and moral decay, particularly in the aftermath of World War I.

💡Modernism

Modernism is an artistic and literary movement that emerged in the late 19th century as a reaction to the rapid changes in society. The video discusses modernism in the context of T.S. Eliot's work, highlighting its focus on expressing the disorientation and fragmentation of the modern world.

💡Hollow Men

The term 'Hollow Men' is central to the video's discussion, referring to the titular poem by T.S. Eliot. It symbolizes the emptiness and loss of purpose felt by individuals in a morally and spiritually decaying society, illustrating the existential crisis of the modern era.

💡Existential Uncertainty

Existential uncertainty is a state of doubt and confusion about one's existence and purpose. The video uses this concept to describe the condition of the 'Hollow Men,' who are lost in a fog of uncertainty, unable to find meaning in their lives.

💡Cultural Decay

Cultural decay refers to the decline or deterioration of a society's cultural values, beliefs, and institutions. The video script describes a world in 'The Hollow Men' that is experiencing such decay, characterized by a loss of traditional moral frameworks and a sense of disarray.

💡Allusions

Allusions are indirect references to other works of literature, art, or historical events. The video explains how 'The Hollow Men' is filled with allusions to various texts, which contribute to the poem's themes of cultural decline and the search for meaning.

💡Free Verse

Free verse is a form of poetry that does not use consistent meter or rhyme. The video notes that 'The Hollow Men' is written in free verse, reflecting the chaotic and disorganized state of the world it describes, and reinforcing the sense of fragmentation.

💡Slant Rhymes

Slant rhymes, also known as oblique or partial rhymes, are rhymes that occur when similar but not identical sounds are used. The video mentions the use of slant rhymes in 'The Hollow Men,' which adds to the poem's sense of disorientation and decay.

💡Dante's Purgatory

Dante's 'Purgatory' is part of the 'Divine Comedy,' a classic work of literature that describes a journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. The video script alludes to this work in the context of 'The Hollow Men,' using it to explore themes of judgment and redemption.

💡Environmental Impact

The video suggests a connection between the hollowness of the human spirit and the physical environment. It implies that the 'Hollow Men' not only affect themselves but also shape the world around them, reflecting the barrenness and desolation of their inner state.

Highlights

Introduction to 'The Hollow Men' by T.S. Eliot, a poem reflecting the apocalyptic vision of the modern world.

The poem portrays a world in moral, cultural, and spiritual decay, with inhabitants lost in existential uncertainty.

Eliot's 'The Hollow Men' was published in 1925, reflecting the aftermath of World War One and societal disillusionment.

The 'hollow men' are described as lifeless, unable to 'rage against the dying of the light', indicating a passive acceptance of fate.

The poem's form, free verse and broken structure, mirrors the fragmented reality of Western culture post-World War One.

Use of slant rhymes in the poem adds to the sense of decay and desolation, reflecting the 'hollow men's' inability to complete actions.

The narrator as a member of the 'hollow men' describes the group as devoid of substance and empathy.

Allusions to the Bible and Joseph Conrad's 'An Outcast of Islands' suggest a search for meaning amidst chaos.

The poem's setting is depicted as an underworld or purgatory, symbolizing a bleak and desolate European culture.

Eliot's use of allusions to Dante's 'Purgatory' and 'Paradise' reflects the loss of moral and spiritual direction.

The 'hollow men' are seen as a representation of a generation scarred by war, unable to uphold their culture.

The poem's themes include the loss of culture, emptiness, and the impact of modernity on human values.

Eliot's 'The Hollow Men' influenced other authors, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, who mirrored its modernist outlook in 'The Great Gatsby'.

The poem questions the impact of the 'hollow men' on the environment, suggesting a reflection of their inner barrenness.

The episode concludes with a reflection on the relevance of 'The Hollow Men' to contemporary society and its impact on the world.

Upcoming episode teaser featuring a poem by Ali Whitelock and an interview on the Lit Poetry podcast.

Transcripts

[Music]

welcome to lit poetry

the podcast where we go on a journey of

discovery

reading analyzing and discussing great

poetry from around the world

poetry is worth it because the reading

and writing of poetry is a revolutionary

act

that has the potential to transform both

the reader

and our world

welcome to the lit poetry podcast season

2.

my name is james laidler australian poet

writer and your host

in today's episode we'll be stepping

inside t.s eliot's

apocalyptic vision of our modern world

in his famous poem

the hollow men this poem presents a

world descending into a state of deep

moral

cultural and spiritual decay its

inhabitants the hollow men

are lost within the misty fog of

existential

uncertainty is a place full of restless

washed out and forsaken people this is

as

eliot puts it deaths are the kingdom the

dead land

the cactus land describes this place as

shape without form shade without color

paralyzed force gesture without motion

published in 1925 in the shadows of

world war one

the blasted landscape of this poem is

filled

with the forever wandering the forever

empty and the forever lonely

husks of humanity these are the stuffed

men

the hollow men whose lives refused to

rage against the dying of the light

as poet dylan thomas famously wrote but

rather

whose lives simply bleed out not with a

bang

but with a whimper but enough of me

going on about this magnificent poetic

masterpiece

when you haven't even heard it yet so

let me present you with the hollow men

by t.s eliot read for you by the very

talented

simon jackson

[Music]

the hollow man by t s eliot

we are the hollow man we are the stuffed

men

leaning together head piece 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

[Music]

shape without form shade

without color paralyzed 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

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 winds singing

more distant and more solemn than a

faded star

let me be no nearer in death's dream

kingdom let me also wear such deliberate

disguises ranch coat crow skin

crossed staves in a field behaving

as the wind behaves

not that final meeting in the twilight

kingdom

[Music]

this is the deadland this is the 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

[Music]

it is 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

[Music]

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

multi-foliate rose of death's twilight

kingdom

the hope only of empty man

here we go round of 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

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

[Music]

so i want to start here by saying a few

words about the historical and literary

context of the poem the holloman is a

poem associated with the modernist

movement

starting around 1870 in europe modernism

lasted till about 1945.

modernism in general was a movement that

was made up of various views and

perspectives

but what all modernists had in common

was concerns about the drastically

changing society in which they lived

society was becoming increasingly urban

industrial

less agricultural and less tied down by

traditional

and religious moral frameworks in

response to shifting cultural goal posts

modernists engineered new forms of

expression that departed from older

traditions

in an attempt to address the emerging

realities they found around them

t.s eliot was one writer who felt

increasingly alienated from the modern

world

in response elliot tried to pioneer new

poetic ways of writing

that would express this growing sense of

disorientation

and disillusionment that he believed

people were experiencing

the poems he famously wrote in the 1920s

such as the hollow men and the wasteland

seem to be assembled as fragments scraps

of language that are loosely held

together

but that read quite unpredictably these

fragments reflect a society

that was collapsing falling into

disrepair and confusion

as a modernist poem the hollow men

mirrors

the broken and crumbling reality of

western culture particularly after

the bloodshed of the first world war and

the gradual perceived failure of its

once

strong value systems living in the

shadow of world war one and left feeling

adrift in a world that had lost

confidence

in its own cultural foundations many

members of

eliot's generation became hollow men

ghostly empty figures left to haunt the

world in which they lived

and it is interesting to note here that

elliot had a profound influence on the

literary world at large and

more specifically affected the writing

style and thematic concerns of authors

such as

f scott fitzgerald and his novel

the great gatsby picking up on the

images of elliot from poems like the

hollow moon and the wasteland

fitzgerald describes the valley of ashes

in the great gatsby

and in doing so closely mirrors elliot's

modernist

outlook fitzgerald writes in the great

gatsby

this is the valley of ashes the

fantastic farm where ashes grow

like wheat into ridges and hills and

grotesque gardens

where ashes take the form of houses and

chimneys and rising smoke and finally

with a transcendent effort of men who

move

dimly and already crumbling through the

powdery air

[Music]

so here i want to talk about the form

meter and rhyme

and the narrator of the poem for that

matter the hollow men does not follow a

standard form

instead the poem is written in free

verse and broken up into five

sections separated by numbers it doesn't

have a regular

rhyme scheme or meter and its stanzas

vary in length

some as short as two lines some as long

as ten

as such the poem comes across somewhat

disorganized and chaotic

it never settles on a fixed pattern

whenever it seems to the poem morphs

into

something else in a poem about

fragmentation and trauma

this formal disorganization reinforces

the intended mood elliot was trying to

capture

poetic forms like the sonnet for

instance which represent the legacy

of an older european style have no

relevance here

the poem is fragmented and disorderly

just like the broken stone described in

the poem itself

furthermore the hollow men makes no use

of rhyme scheme

it contains rhymes yes but not

predictable orderly ones

indeed the speaker only really makes use

of

partially failed rhymes called slant

rhymes such as

between the words meaningless and grass

in line seven to eight these rather

unsteady rhymes

prod and probe at the reader's senses

their erratic and unpredictable nature

reinforce the state of decay and

desolation

that the poem is describing like the

hollow men

who seem unable to complete anything

they start

who are gesture without motion the poems

rhymes gather energy only to dissipate

the poem's rhymes are as fragmented and

defeated as the hollow men are

themselves

as for the poem speaker or narrator he

portrays the hollow men as a group of

exhausted

defeated people of whom the speaker of

the poem

is also a member he describes the group

members as being without substance

their heads are literally filled with

straw and he points out that their

voices are vacuous

they show no empathy towards one another

rather they flounder around

blindly praying to broken stone or

in other words to false gods and idols

that can never

bestow upon them a sense of purpose or

meaning

here these hollow men can be interpreted

as representing the generation that

fought in and survived the war

emerging from it permanently scarred

unable to participate in or preserve

their western

european culture which seemed to be

crumbling before their very eyes

it is interesting to note here however

that another voice does make an

appearance in the fifth

section of the poem the use of italics

and the orientation of words on the

right hand margin of the poem indicate

a new voice that is present in the poem

this new voice recites words from both

the bible

and from a novel by joseph conrad an

outcast of islands

this new voice is able to quote these

other texts precisely

perhaps hinting that the being behind

the voice unlike the speaker himself

enjoys an intimate relationship with god

in contrast the main speaker remains in

his state of alienation and confusion

when he tries to repeat the quotes of

the mysterious voice

he can only regurgitate fragments for

thine

is the it's as though the hollow men

have ventured beyond

redemption even in hearing the bible

they can only cough up

empty and lifeless fragments from its

pages

speaker describes the setting as some

type of underworld or purgatory

and refers to the place as death's dream

kingdom or

death's twilight kingdom the location is

consistently bleak and desolate being

compared to a desert

this is made clear when it is referred

to as the cactus land

it is a haunting and hopeless place that

the speaker also calls the valley of

dying stars

it is full of ruins and damaged objects

broken stone and broken columns

these ruins serve as symbols for a

failing and damaged european culture

whose positive influence

is in the decline

[Music]

[Music]

poetic techniques the hollow man is

chock full of poetic devices including

metaphors similes repetition

consonants assonance alliteration sagira

enjambment and more

too many to adequately unpack here as

such i just want to spend a little bit

of time talking about allusions which

play a very important role in the poem

before talking about themes in the poem

for instance it's important to

quickly take note of these many

illusions that are scattered

through the poem and they come from

famous texts and works of literature

each illusion is very important but

before

looking at them in isolation it's

important to think about their

accumulative

presence in the poem piled one on top of

the other

the poem can be read as a kind of

literary trash heap

onto which scattered pieces of european

literature are being swept

this connects to the poem's intent to

demonstrate the demise of european

culture

whose former glory has ended with its

mixed bag of quotations and illusions

the poem itself is an image of a culture

and decline whose masterpieces have been

reduced to rubble

and whose authority now lies in ruin the

illusions begin in the poem

through the inclusion of two epigraphs

that frame the reader's entry into the

disturbing world

of eliot's poem although it must be said

these weren't read out

in the version that you heard a little

earlier the first quote is

mr curtsy dead and can be found in the

novel

the heart of darkness by joseph conrad

conrad's novel

examines the story of captain kurtz an

ivory trader in colonial africa who

loses his sanity

moves into the heart of the jungle and

sets himself up as a godlike figure

ruling over a group of natives

the quote thus hints at some valiant's

concerns regarding european decline

captain kurtz represents eliot's

greatest fear for his society

that it will lose its former instinctual

and moral moorings in life and end up

adrift like kurtz

dead hollow empty and floating like

flotsam on an endless sea of

meaninglessness

the second epigraph comes from guy

fawkes day which occurs

on november 5th the catholic

revolutionary

forks in 1605 plotted to blow up

parliament

in england and was arrested as a

tradition

since the event children would make

effigies of forks

out of old clothes filled with straw to

be set alight

on the 5th of november children would

door knock neighbors saying a penny for

the old guy

to help buy what they needed and this is

the line that appears as the epigraph

in the poem of course the straw effigies

of forks

become an image of the hollow men

themselves inhuman

ghastly creatures that deserve to be

consigned

to the flames the poem also contains

allusions

to key passages in dante's purgatory and

paradise

in these poems when dante encounters his

great love

beatrice he cannot meet her gaze she is

an image of holiness

and purity so holy and so pure that

dante

feels it would be disrespectful to even

look at her through the illusion of

dante the eyes thus become symbolic of

god

and god's holiness and purity

people who go to heaven have the speaker

notes crossed with

direct eyes this will eventually become

an important symbol in the poem

eyes become associated with god and

god's power to observe and judge

human life with their direct eyes

the people going to heaven are closely

linked with that power

they are able to look at things and

judge the truth

as the poem progresses it becomes

obvious that the hollow men's

eyes have lost their directness as they

hide themselves away from truth and

judgment

and this perhaps occurs because in the

20th century witnessed the rise of

relativism

and a decline in the belief of objective

moral truths

the mention of the two mid river in the

poem could also be interpreted

as an allusion to the river archeron

which surrounds hell

in dante's inferno and as for the fifth

section of the poem

there is a direct allusion to the

children's song here we go around the

mulberry bush

the speaker refrains the song to make it

far more sinister and distorted

and finally of course there are multiple

allusions to the book of matthew in the

new testament

in the quote for thine is the kingdom

[Music]

so i want to finish our discussion of

this poem with a look at one of the

central themes

the loss of culture and emptiness

the poem begins in a very disturbing

fashion by introducing us to the hollow

men

fragmented alienated and shadowy figures

who struggle to live in the real world

and instead abide in a wasteland the

speaker points out that the hollow men's

voices are dried to emphasize their

barrenness of being

they're human voices rather than being

full of emotion and passion and sharp

intellect are quiet and meaningless

as wind in dry grass as such the speaker

is suggesting that the hollow men's

voices roam

senseless across the landscape like the

wind itself

depressed and lonely having lost their

humanity

in their perpetual state of crisis the

hollow men

have also become a danger not just to

themselves but to human society itself

in part two of the poem the speaker

describes them wearing

a rat's coat and crow skin these are

symbols of

disease and death respectively and they

reinforce this idea that hollow men are

dangerous to others

this does not mean that they are

necessarily malevolent people though

rather they are simply riddled with

disease and their condition is

contagious

their despair and intellectual nihilism

is like a virus that can spread

throughout the community

and at the heart of the hollow men's

experience are all the difficult

questions rising out of the horrors and

inhumanity of world war one

and the emergent idea that god is dead

first coined by

nature who famously argued that the idea

of god was basically made redundant

after the enlightenment

of the 17th and 18th centuries and the

emergence of scientific inquiry

probably most disturbing of all however

is that the poem implies that the hollow

men's disease

affects the environment in which they

live too

these men and their outlook in other

words start to shape the physical world

around them for example the landscape is

described as a

hollow valley and there's a barren

wasteland filled with cacti

dry grass and a whistling wind but for

myself i can't but

help to think about the hollow men of

today

our very own souls and how we ourselves

shape the environment with our hollow

values this might sound rather

depressing

pessimistic but it's not that hard to

argue

that it is in our hollow and insatiable

drive for consumption

in the modern world today that we find

the true

force driving things like global warming

and the destruction of our natural world

could it be that we are shaping the

world into an image

of ourselves that simply reflects our

own

inner barrenness

[Music]

so it's time for me to wrap up this

week's episode and say goodbye

next week on lit poetry we'll be

featuring a fantastic poem by ali

whitelock

and interviewing her on the podcast i'm

really excited by the video poem

that poetry has produced of one of her

poems and i can't wait for it to be

published

the poem should make for an excellent

discussion if you want to support our

work update poetry please remember to

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[Music]

the hollow man by t.s eliot

we are the hollow man we are the stuffed

men

leaning together head piece 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

[Music]

shape without form shade

without color paralyzed 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

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 winds

singing more distant and more solemn

than a faded star let me be no nearer

in death's dream kingdom let me also

wear such deliberate disguises rat's

coat

crow skin crossed staves in a field

behaving as the wind behaves

not that final meeting in the twilight

kingdom

[Music]

this is the deadland this is the cactus

land

here the stone images are raised

here they receive the supplication of a

dead man's hand

under the twinkle of fading star

[Music]

it is 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

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 multi-foliate rose

of death's twilight kingdom the hope

only of empty man

here we go round of 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

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podcast presented by james laidler

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