Alcala 1958

dec ept ive ima ges , suc h as "su nlig ht on a broken column ." Th e vo ice shea rd in thi s kin gdom are "more dist ant and mo re sole mn than a fad ing sta r." Th e poet doe s not wis h to be brough t nearer to thes e eye s, for he cannot fac e the m; they are une ndu rable. Rath er than fac e them he pref ers to wea r "de libe rat e dis gu ise s"and stan d in a fiel d, sway ing with the wind , exert ingno wil l of hi s own. Th is is an attempt to eva de the resp onsi ­ bil ity of me etin g thes e ey es wh ich are so fea rsome to a pers on in suc h spi ritu al tor- tive , li t ." s istant i . t , ; rablr. l rate ises" , i g , i g l . is si- it i g i s e al

l

ts

se

hi s fin al mome nts has a glimp se of some sort of trut h, wh ich he had bee n see king. Th ese two lin es ser ve as an intr odu ction to the ma in bo dy of the poem. Th e cen tra l imag e of the sca recrow is int rod uce din the fir st two lines. We , like the sca rec row, are the holl ow men , tha t is, devo id of any rea l sub stan ce, fut ile , empty men. Ou r "h eadp iec e" is "f ille d with str aw," dry , us ele ss ma tte r; and when we spe ak, our "d rie d"vo ice s are me ani ngl ess , ma kin gsou nds but sa yi ngno thi ng . Th e ne xt two lin es are par ado xic al,one term de ny ing the oth er: "Sha pe without form , sha de wi tho ut col our ," and "Para ­ lyz ed for ce, ges tur ewit hou tmotion." Th ese strong contr ad ict ion scomplet e the pictur e of the ma n who is in rea lity not a man, the sca rec row . He is made in the shape of a ma n wit hou t ha vin g the sub stan tial form of the ma n, inc ap ab le of mo vem ent or wil led ac tio n. The ne xt stanza int rod uce sthe image of the "e ye s"tha t con tin ua llyhau nt hi m; the ey es of rep roa ch or jud gment . Tho se who have gone to "de ath 's othe r King dom " {i .e ., to death itse lf, as dis tin ctfrom the "de ath 's kin gdom"tha t is this wo rld) rememb erus, "not as lost vio len t sou ls," sou ls that ha ve made som e attempt at usi ng the ir will s but ha ve fa ile d, but as "t he hol low men , the stu ffe d men," empty , fut ile me n. Th e use of "d ire ctey es" sym bo liz es tho se who ha ve died wi th no fea r of me eti ng the ey es of jud gment . Eli ot then int rod uces "de ath 's dre am kin gdom ," the kin gd om of life in dea th, wh ich is thi s wo rld . To Elio t, this wor ld is just anothe rtyp e of dea th, dif fer ingonl y sli gh tly from the ac tual dea th of separa tion of bod yand sou l. Th ere is a tran sitio nher e from the third pe rso n plural to the fir st per son sin gu lar , ma kin g the poem mor e per sonal. Here in hi s dre ams he doe s not dar e me et the ey es of judgment, of rea lity . In thi s wor ld of fanc y the ey es appear on ly ind ire ctl y, tra nsf orm ing themse lves into , i i . ction i . l e uced . , ro , , i l ce, il , . e dpiece" il d , , l s tt r; , ri d" i s ingles , i g g ing. es adoxical, ing : pe , t , - ce, e t adictions e e li , ro . t i g tial form , able e t i n. uces ~ s ti ually ; ch ent. s t 's other Kingdom" ( .e., lf, ct 's o " l ) er t l , l il d, l , f t , il . i ct bolizes ing ent. uces 's o ," o , l . , r , ing tly l tion l. i i n n l r, i g l. , lit . l y l i ectly, sfor ing lve

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ANIT A VELAZQUEZ

men t as Eliot exp eri enced . He wi shes to av oid the fin al me etin g in "th e tw ilig ht kin gdom ," the dream kin gdomof thi s world . Eli ot then exp res ses utte rdes ola tion an d des pai rin a desc ript ionof thi s "deadlan d." Th e land is dry, bar ren , con tai ning stone imag es that rec eiv e "th e sup plic atio nof a dea d man 's hand ."Man , in dea th, str etc hes out hi s hands dumbly an d bli nd ly to the stone image s he ha s rai sed . Th e last lin e of thi s stanz a, "Und er the twi nkl e of a fadin gstar ," sig ni fie sthe last fad ing hope of man's foo lish fai th in ston e images. ienced. es l i g t ,"the dream o orld. ut er tio r i tion "dead . , ining e i e li ation 's and." , e l ly . rr , er le i g r ifie i li

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