Alcala 1958

The WorldEn ds W itha Wh imp er By BEATRIZ ANI TA VELAZQUEZ, B.A. 19 58 Gr adu ate Colle ge for Wom en ith rl s i er UEZ, . ate

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T HOMAS Ste arn s Eli ot, cont empo­ rar y poet, cri tic an d ess ayi st, is one of the mo st wi de ly disc uss ed lite rar y fig ur es of the 20t h cen ­ tur y. He is also on e of the mo st cont ro­ ver sia l. His poe try is ac cla imed as luc id by some cri tic s, obs cur e by ot he rs ;hi s sty le is pra ised by som e cri tic s, con dem ned as dis jun cti veby oth ers. Be for e att emptin g to und ers tand the poe try of T. S. Eli ot, one must und erst and the inf lue nce sthat hel ped sha pe hi s lite rar y tale nt. Th e pri nci pa l lite rar y inf lue nce s were the 19t h-c ent ury Fr enc h sym bol ists , the 17th -cen tury me tap hy sic alsand Dante . Th e iro nic lightn essof Jul es La for que and the imag ery of Baud ela ire , wh o in turn were leader sof the Fre nch sym bo listmov e­ ment that stemmed from Edgar All an Po e, all hel ped to formu lat ethe ge ni usof T. S . Eli ot. The 17t h-c ent uryme tap hy sic alpoe ts, esp eci all yJohn Donn e,appea ledstr onglyto Eli ot. Like Donne, Eli ot us ed the conv er­ sat ion al ton e and col loq uia l spe ech in hi s poetr y. He also bor row ed from Donne the pa rad oxi calcon cei t but de cli ne d to use to ext rem esthe Donne squ eme tap hor s. 1 It is dif fic ult to me asu re the influe nce of Dante on Elio t. Al lus ion s to pas sag es from hi s Inf ern o and the us e of Dante's sym bols can be fou nd thr oughou tEli ot. At times, Elio t almost dir ect ly lif ts lin es from Da nte , ch an gin g bu t a si ng le word , if 1 C f. F. 0 .Mat thies sen, The Ach ieveme ntof T . S. Eliot (New Yor k: Oxfor d Uni ver sity Pre ss, 19 32 ). S s , o- ti st, ly e t es - . - si l. i i ed ti s, obscure rs; l i d ti s, ned j ctive . e ti g ta d , a l nces y t. i al y nces - e tury h lists, t ry hysicals t . i es e ery elaire, li t - d , late t ius t. t ry m hy ical , ial y e, led gly . e, - i al ial y. ed oxical it ed extremes the Donne que m hors. 1 lt re nce t. l io s ges / r11,0 t e ol t . , tly t , gi g le , t . . O. t i en, i nt f . c : sity ,

an y. Elio t esp eci all yadmi red Dante's clea r imag es, as is app are nt from hi s fre qu ent ado pti onof them and hi s clarit yof dic tio n, sim pli cit yof sty le and eco nom yof wor ds. 2 In ad dit ion to the se lite rary inf lue nce s, Eli ot's per son alreligi ou s beli efs had a dir ect be ari ng on hi s poetr y. He was a studen t of ph ilo sop hy and bec ame inte res ted in Chr istia n huma nis m. Elio t's life has been a ha rr ow ingsea rch for fa ith . In 19 27 he bec ame a con ver t to An gli can ism . Th is sea rch , wit h its moments of des pai r and def eat , has bee n the sub jec t ma tter for mu ch of hi s po etr y. Th e Ho llow Me n* our topic her e, was publi she d two year s bef ore Eliot 's conver­ sion. The po em rep rese nts the he igh t of des pai r that he rea che d bef ore join ingthe Angli can Churc h. Th e poem is composed of fiv e parts , int rod uce d by two ver y short but mean ­ ingf ul ep igram s. Th e firs t of thes e is "A Pe nn y for the Old Gu y," bas ed upo n the game in wh ich ch ild ren carr yin ga stu ffe d ef fi gy of Gu y Faw kes be g for pe nn ies for fir ework son the Fif th of No vemb er. 4 Th e use of the ef fi gy int rod uce s imm edi ate ly the hol low -stu ffed ma n. Th e sec ond epi ­ gra m, "M ist ah Kur tz— He dea d," taken from the climaxof Con rad' s He art of Dar k­ nes s, exp res sesthe dea th of a ma n who in 2Ibid . 'E di tio nhere used is Com pre hen siveAnt hol ogy of Americ an Po etr y, edit ed by Conrad Aik en (New Yor k: Th e Moder n Library, 19 44 ). 4 C /. Geor ge Wil liam son, A Rea der' s Gu ide to T. S. Elio t (New Yor k: Noond ay, 19 55) . ial y re ' es, t s e t tion y i n, simplicity of s l y s. ition s t l nces, ' al ous beliefs had ing y. t il s hy e te i i n nism. ' ro ing . e t l canism. i , ts r t, j t y. l , 3 ere, li ed s ' - nts t r d i g c h. , uced - l s. y i re yi g a ff d igy es ies o the F er. igy uces iately lo - luf ed . - , i ah t - , ' t f - s, / i . 3 E tion hensive logy f eri an etry, c : f m ). 4 f. r son, s i .

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