Analysis Of The Fire Sermon

T. S. Eliot 's "The Fire Sermon" is a poem consisting of different speakers, tones, and sound patterns. I draw attention to these by slowing or speeding up while reading, changing the tone of my voice, putting emphasis on specific words or lines. T. S. Eliot composed this poem in 1921 ("T. S. Eliot Biography"), which is significant because this is after the war and his world would have been a "Waste Land". This real world is mirrored in his writings through filth and impurity. Stylistic choices bring forth the importance of sexual desire and emotional/physical impurity and highlight the irony of alluding to both Buddhism and Christianity because of their avoidance of passion.

The first line quotes a Shakespearian play of mourning, which sets the atmosphere for the tone of the play. I have the sound of a river playing in the background because the setting is on the Thames and it furthers the melancholic mood. The first stanza has a cheerier quality to it than the rest of "The Fire Sermon", which is why I chose a more uplifting tone of voice. Through emphasizing the words "clatter" and "chatter" (262), I skim over "And a [...] and a" (262), creating them to be

I focus on clatter and chatter because it contains the mood of the stanza and creates the impression that it is pleasant and is not melancholic like the following ones. Another line that creates a sense of happiness is the last line of the stanza,