Intermediate F.Sc F.A ICS I.Com English XI The Hollow Men Reference Context Explanation

Intermediate F.Sc F.A ICS I.Com English XI The Hollow Men Reference Context Explanation 1st Year English Notes Online Taleem Ilmi Hub Class 11th

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Poem no: 10 The Hollow Men (T.S. Eliot)

Explanation with reference to the context.

                       We are the hollow men

We are the stuffed men

Leaning together

Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!

Reference:

               These lines have been taken from the poem “The Hollow Men” by T.S. Eliot.

Context:

               The poem is a satire upon modern man. The poet says that we possess worthless characters. We are no more thinking human beings. We act as puppets. Wisdom is far fetched image for us. We have lost our souls and spend aimless lives. Our speeches have become as meaningless as the rustling o grass or the running of rats.

Explanation:

               In these lines the poet reveals the poor pathetic and pitiable condition of the modern men. The hollow men sing that they are the worthless people empty of faith and moral strength. To him, they are hollow from within, that is soulless. They lack wisdom since they are stuffed dummies that cannot take any action or accomplished something. They have no will o their own. They are artificial. They are just liked the stuffed things. They lean against one another to seek help from one another, but they fail in getting mutual support. They are unable to make any healthy society. To the poet, it is a matter of great regret that they are without any moral worth and spiritual strength.

                        Our dried voices, when

We whisper together

Are quiet and meaningless

As wind in dry grass

Or rats’ feet over broken glass

In our dry cellar

Reference:

               These lines have been taken from the poem “The Hollow Men” by T.S. Eliot.

Context:

               The poem is a satire upon modern man. The poet says that we possess worthless characters. We are no more thinking human beings. We act as puppets. Wisdom is far-fetched image for us. We have lost our souls and spend aimless lives. Our speeches have become as meaningless as the rustling o grass or the running of rats.

Explanation:

In these lines, the poet gives some more examples to justify his view-point that the modern people are soulless men, that they are filled with worthless matter, that they are always concerned with petty matters. He says that when they talk to one another, their voices are so hoarse, silent, ridiculous, meaningless, and fruitless as is the wind in dry grass is useless and the rat’s feet are silent when walking over the broken glass in our dry underground cellar for storing things. It is regrettable that they speak but do not talk of important issues. They talk of unimportant things and consequently, there is no communication at all. They have no targets and goals. They are irresolute and indecisive. Their lives are purposeless and directionless. They are not able to make any great achievements. Their unresponsive voices do not produce any result. As a rat walks gently over the sharp pointed pieces of the broken glass, the hollow men sorrowfully pass their lives like these rats.

                       Shape without form, shade without colour,

                        Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

Reference:

               These lines have been taken from the poem “The Hollow Men” by T.S. Eliot.

Context:

               The poem is a satire upon modern man. The poet says that we possess worthless characters. We are no more thinking human beings. We act as puppets. Wisdom is far-fetched image for us. We have lost our souls and spend aimless lives. Our speeches have become as meaningless as the rustling o grass or the running of rats.

Explanation:

                In these lines, the poet tells us that that the modern soulless men have shapes but they are formless, that is, they have only external appearance. They are just effects, outward appearances and external manifestations, but do not have abilities to make some achievements worth meaning. They have no ability to do anything worthwhile. They are shadows that cause only dimness and darkness without any colour. They are powerless crippled people. They have become totally powerless. They are just like those gestures that are inconsequential. They have no aim and no direction such is the pitiable condition of the modern hollow people.

                    Those who have crossed

With direct eyes, to death’s other Kingdom

Remember us –if at all – not as lost

Violent souls, but only

As the hollow men

The stuffed men

Reference:

               These lines have been taken from the poem “The Hollow Men” by T.S. Eliot.

Context:

               The poem is a satire upon modern man. The poet says that we possess worthless characters. We are no more thinking human beings. We act as puppets. Wisdom is far-fetched image for us. We have lost our souls and spend aimless lives. Our speeches have become as meaningless as the rustling o grass or the running of rats.

Explanation:

                In these lines, the poet tells us that the people who had already left this earthly life and gone to the next world do not remember the hollow men as the damned people or the fierce generation, but consider them the worthless insignificant people lacking worth and moral strength. They think them trivial, frivolous, and petty. They neither set goals nor make decisions to achieve those goals. They are facing death-in-life. They are experiencing a living death therefore there is no difference whether they live in this world or the world hereafter. They are devoid of worth and soul. They are mere stuffed dummies lacking actions and activities. They are puppets made of straw playing in the hands of others.