T.S. Elitist (Part Two of Three)

In "The Fire Sermon," upon seeing two women at the river Thames, Tereu is mentioned: the mythical figure who ate his own son for dinner because of the trickery of two women (not surprising to find). "Mrs. Porter/And her daughter," are made out to be flowers (tragically frail), washing "their feet in soda water," rather rooted in the river. "Porter" insinuates a servant, who generally brings water to the dinner table. Eliot's verse is boiled down to flowing essence with supportive language (I presume, through editing), and poetry is definitely a verbal and political art form for him, as he veers only slightly from classical form.

While observing the slums in spring: "A small house agent's clerk" has a rendezvous with the typist at teatime. After the meal, "she is bored and tired," but allows the man to "assault" and "explore" her, while she offers "no defence." "Her brain allows one half-formed thought to pass: 'Well now that's done: and I'm glad it's over.'" These lines are terribly frustrating for female readers. The thought he explicated is the exact feeling I'll have when I finish this essay.

But, there is more torture to be had, as Eliot loses any sense of deep love- (from my perspective) an initial desire, which evolves into a deeper gratitude with each obstacle a couple overcomes in time, and manifests itself into devotion. One will find Eliot burning with jealousy, it seems, as his language tends to hint he is covetous of young love! Immersed in English tradition as to note the decay of society, not much about this overall piece pleases me, especially after researching all the literary inferences as to understand what an elitist he truly is.

"What The Thunder Said," is plant, even though there is no water for the soil, and even though we die, so that we may live on. A third party (God) walks beside a pair of people even though the elements, fragmented as they may be, make faith an elusive concept. Eliot sees the world as a "prison," contrary to Edward Arlington Robinson, who said, "The world is not a prison-house, but a sort of spiritual kindergarten, where millions of bewildered infants are trying spell 'God' with the wrong letters."

The fertility lacking in Eliot's work is difficult to relate to. He interprets the world as morally deviant, throughout his writing. He seems to want to be able to drink the water of belief (the imagery cliché- to not 'swallow everything' so as not be naïve), while Eliot notes the world as dry and barren: nothing but a dry rock in the last passage of The Wasteland. Science seems rather ignored, aside from natural description. The religious stamp of time marks Eliot as human and faulted.

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