Student Question
Does T. S. Eliot's poetry compel us to ask questions and seek answers, even if they don't exist?
Quick answer:
T. S. Eliot's poetry indeed compels readers to ask questions and seek answers, even if they remain elusive. Poems like "Preludes," "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," and "Rhapsody on a Windy Night" explore themes of alienation and disillusionment in modern life. "The Hollow Men" and "Journey of the Magi" question the meaning of life and beliefs after traumatic events. Eliot's work forces us to confront unsettling questions about existence and modernity.
This statement is very true of Eliot's poetry. Let's take a closer look.
Poems like "Preludes," "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," and "Rhapsody on a Windy Night" raise questions about modern life as Eliot's speakers experienced it in the early twentieth-century. To these speakers, modern life seemed alienating and disillusioning. Why, they wonder, is modernity the way it is?
For example, "Preludes" offers up a grim series of urban images, describing, "the burnt-out ends of smoky days" and the "dingy shades" of the city, depicting it as a sordid, unpleasant, and unsettling place. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" wonders why the time spent at intellectual London parties seems like an endless and boring repetition of the same motions and words. The poem contrasts this monotony to a romantic, ancient Greek world of mermaids and poetry that seems richer and less self conscious...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
to him. "Rhapsody on a Windy Night" describes a grim cityscape between the hours of midnight and four a.m. and ends with the dread of going to work the next morning. All three poems question what it means to live in a world that seems to offer very little to hope for.
"The Hollow Men" questions the meaning of life after the disillusionment of World War I, a time when many people felt empty and betrayed by the senseless destruction and brutality of war. Where can people who feel dead inside after the war find meaning? The poem ends with a grim forecast about modernity:
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
"Journey of the Magi" raises a different set of queries. In it, one of the three Magi who brought gifts to the infant Jesus questions the harsh cost of having one's comfortable beliefs about the world challenged. The birth of Jesus was a "hard and bitter agony," one that left the Magi questioning everything they thought they knew, from their former religious faith to fellow countrymen who now seem "an alien people."
All the poems raise questions about how to live in a world that no longer feels secure or comfortable. We often would like to avoid these questions, but Eliot's poems force us to wake up and confront them. For many, however, it is cathartic or relieving to have someone else raise issues that reflect their own difficult feelings. After reading these poems, perhaps they don't feel as alone.