T. S Eliot Analysis

I explicitly agree that the poetry of T.S Eliot is unquestionably dominated by thought-provoking reflections which are complemented by powerful imagery, leading the reader into the state of mind of Eliot himself. Initially, I abhorred Eliot’s poetry. His poetry, then, for me, represented a confusing and exceptionally difficult body of work and I found it similarly difficult to form any kind of genuine response to his poetry. In spite of this, over my past couple of readings, I have formed a muscular response to his literary work. Personally, I comprehend the poetry of T.S Eliot as being enigmatic and remarkable which I believe is shown through the power of Literary History. Eliot’s compelling use of literary allusions is incredibly conspicuous

Akin to many modernist writers, Eliot wanted his poetry to articulate the fragile psychological state of humanity throughout the twentieth century. It is very apparent that the key theme throughout this poem is the enigmatic, depressing nature of modern urban life with a strong emphasis on powerful imagery throughout the poem. The dark and powerful imagery suggests the drab, dispiriting nature of urban life, a theme which is incredibly common throughout the work of T. S Eliot. Initially, the first prelude portrays the city in a bleak light, using such negative adjectives as ‘grimy’ ‘withered’ ‘vacant’ ‘broken’ and ‘lonely’ to directly convey a truly dark vision. Similar to ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’, this poem is incredibly dramatic in style. We find ourselves in an urban Backstreet on a winter evening without any visible human presence. However, the ‘smell of steaks’ and the ‘cab horse’ proposes the suggestion of human activity. Eliot uses personification to illustrate the different periods of the day in the first two parts of the poem which provide the reader with the opportunity to possess thought-provoking reflections which are complemented by powerful