Alcala 1958

The nex t stanza exp res seson ce mor e the fea r he ha s of en ter ing int o "dea th 'sother kin gdo m,"death. Wi ll we awake in "dea th' s oth er kin gdom" alo ne, ha vin gde ceived our­ sel ves and fin din gno ob jec tfor our tender­ ne ss oth er than the brok en stone we had set up to ad or e? We then ente r the val ley of dea th, where we do not fin d"th e ey es. " Th e hol low man finds himself in the holl ow va lle yof dea th, left with no hop e. Th e"br oken jaw of our lost kin gdoms"sig ni fie sonc e ag ain the bar­ renness of the land, the dea dn essand dry­ nes s of exi ste nce in thi s "hollo w val ley ." In the val ley, wh ich is the "la st of meet ­ ing pla ces ,"the holl ow men gr op etoge ther , spe ech less ,aw ait ing fea rfu lly ye t hop efu lly the reappe aranceof the "e ye s." Th e hol low men are gat her ed on the "b ea ch of the tum id riv er" that the y must cro ss into "deat h's oth er kin gdom ."Th e ey es sha ll reappe ar, if the y app ear , as a "pe rpetua l sta r," one that wil l not fad e as the oth ers fade d; the "mult ifo lia terose " sugg est sthe rose win dow of a chu rch . This reappear ­ an ce of the ey es is "th e hope on ly of empty men." Elio t dev elop s, not the hope , but the rea lity of "empty men." He si ng sthe ch ild 's ref rain of the mu lbe rry bus h, sub sti tuting "p ric kly pea r" for mu lbe rry bush to car ry out the imag e of bar ren nes sand drynes s. Th e refr ain also su gg es tsthe ch ild ishhope of the hol low man , who turns, even in hi s fin al hou r, to tri via . Th e lin e, "A t fiv e o'cl ock in the mo rn ing ,"re cal ls to us the "wak ingalo ne" in"d eat h'soth erkingd om ." Her e ther e is also the con not atio nof fut ilit y, man's contin ual goin g round and round, in nev er- end ingcir cle s. Th e fol low ingthr ee sta nza sgi ve a ser ies of asp ect sof life ov er wh ich the "S hadow, " or the fea r of judgment and dea th, the fea r of the "e ye s,"fal ls mome nta ril y.Af ter the firs t stan za of this ser ies ,the do xolog yfrom the Lor d's Pr ayer, "F or Th in e is the King­ dom, " is inte rpo late d. It sym bo liz es the esses ing into t 's ot r ," l th's " alone, i g d i - i g n t - t e? l t , " l ll y t , . o s" ifies i - , e - ce ll l ." l , i - , e , le , i ing f l y f l y rance ." l e e ch i ss 's o ." ll ar, , t l l e d; i f liate r e ls . - l s, , li s i 's i ry , tituting ri kly ry e re ne . i e ts t i is l o , l , i . , t e ing," r lls ing " in h's o ." ation ility, al g , e ding cl s. ing i els i ," t , s," l ntarily. i , l y ' , i e - lated. olizes

shamattempt at pra yer ma deby the "hollow men." Af ter the ne xt stan za the re is a typ ica lhum an ev asi on ,"L ife is ver y lon g." It als o sugg est s the bur den of lif e upon ma n. After the thi rd stan za the lin e from the Lor d's Pr ay er is rep eate d, rel ati ng the "S hadow"once mo re to rel igi on . Th e ne xt thr ee lin es are incomplete repe­ titi on sof "F or Th in eis the Kin gdom"and "L ife is ver y long ." Th is is an exp res sion of an attemp t to pra y, inte rrup ted by an ev as ive excu se , aft er wh ich ther e is an attempt to com ple te the pra yer. Th e po em is end ed wit h the nur ser y rhyme cha nt of the mu lber ry bush on ce mo re, thi s tim e expr ess ingthe end of the wor ld. Th e fin al lin e, "N ot with a bang but a wh impe r,"sho ws the worl d en din g, not in the grand eur of cata stro phe , but sim ply wit h the wh imp erof def eat— frus­ trat ion en di ngin the sim perof hel ple ssness. As a po em of fear and frustra tion , Th e Ho llow Me n is trem end ous . But Eli ot fail s to make an act ua l jud gmenton an y huma n expe rie nc e. Rat her , he commu nic ate sthe fee lin gsof de spa ir andangu ishto the read er wit hou t ba lan cin g thes e emoti ons by the pro per rati onal mo tivati on,and the poem is thereb y seriou sly dama ged. Th e poetleaves the jud gment to the reader . He lea ves the jud gment sub jec t to erro r. Th e emoti on sof des pai r and fru stra tion are commu nic ate dby the use of a ser ies of sym bo ls. Th ese symbol s, alth oug h not traditi ona lun ive rsa lsymbol s,are nev erth e­ less cle ar, be causeof the ir sour ce. Th e firs t sym bol , that of a scarec row ,is ea sy to un­ der stan d.Th e sca rec rowis rec ogn izedas an empty -he ade def fi gy of a ma n. Th e nex t sym bo l,that of the "e ye s,"wh ich con tin ue s thr oug hou t the poem, is als o und erst and ­ ab le. It is tak en dir ect ly from Dan te's In fer no , wh ere in Be atr ice rep roa che sDante wi th he r ey es and the y hau nt him in hi s dre ams. 5 Th e sym bo lsused to den ote bar­ 5 C /. Eliza beth Drew , T . S. Eli ot: The Desig n of His Po etr y (New Yor k: Scrib ner's ,19 53 ). ade oll i l , if . e ts . the 's er t d, ting i ion. s l t - s i e o " if . i ion t , ted i e se, i ll l te . s y ry , es ing l . l , t er," i g, e r phe, l er - - i a l s e . tion, e ll l e ous. s l e t n rience. , nicates t g ir and i e er t l cing ion i ation, a y seriously ged. poet e t . s a e t j t . ions tion nicated i s ls. , h t itio al i rsal , t e- , e rce. i t l, ro , - l d. ro a ize - eaded gy . l, ," i ti ue o t , tand- l . tly t 's l /erno, in Beatrice che t t dr am .' l t - ' f. , . . t: i n of t y 's, ). :

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