Exploring T.S. Eliot's Modernist Poetry Themes

avant-garde poetry

A genre of poetry that seeks to challenge traditional forms and conventions.

psychological entrapment

A state where individuals feel trapped in their own minds, often leading to feelings of powerlessness.

spiritual entrapment

A condition where individuals feel disconnected from spiritual beliefs or fulfillment.

existential entrapment

A sense of being trapped in a meaningless existence, often explored in modernist literature.

The Great War

World War I, which had profound effects on literature and society.

physical and spiritual lowness

The degradation of both the physical environment and the spiritual state of individuals in modern cities.

modern metropolis

A large urban area characterized by its complexity and often oppressive atmosphere.

quadriptych form

A four-part structure used in poetry or art to explore a theme or narrative.

objective correlative

A literary technique that uses a set of objects or events to evoke a specific emotion.

sibilance

A literary device that involves the repetition of 's' sounds to create a hissing effect.

polysyndeton

A rhetorical device that uses multiple conjunctions in close succession for emphasis.

phantasmagoric imagery

Vivid and dreamlike imagery that evokes a sense of unreality or nightmare.

paradox

A statement that contradicts itself but may reveal a deeper truth.

flâneur

A literary figure who strolls through the city, observing and reflecting on urban life.

urban individual

A person living in a city, often depicted as anonymous and disconnected.

tedious banality

The monotonous and dull aspects of everyday life.

ontological impotence

A state of being unable to assert one's existence or meaning in the world.

spiritual fulfillment

A sense of completeness or satisfaction derived from spiritual beliefs or practices.

infinitely gentle, infinitely suffering thing

A description that captures the essence of the modern man's plight in urban existence.

Bubu de Montparnasse

A literary work by Charles Louis Philippe that features a prostitute named Berthe.

smell of steaks in passageways

An example of sibilance that evokes the grim reality of urban life.

catatonic stasis

A state of neuroticism within the individual spirit caused by the suffocating aestheticism and artificiality of high 20th century society.

purely hedonistic pursuit

A focus on pleasure-seeking that exacerbates man's spiritual shallowness and inability to create and sustain meaningful relationships.

spiritual shallowness

A lack of depth in one's spiritual life, leading to an inability to form meaningful connections with others.

anonymity

The state of being unknown or unrecognized, often leading to feelings of isolation.

vacuity

The quality of being empty or devoid of content, often associated with a lack of purpose.

ennui

A feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement.

fragmentation

The process of breaking or being broken into parts, often reflecting a disjointed experience of reality.

simile

A figure of speech that compares two different things using 'like' or 'as'.

literary allusion

A reference to another work of literature, often used to enhance meaning or context.

ellipsis

The omission of words or phrases that are understood in context, often used to create suspense or indicate a pause.

refrain

A repeated line or phrase in a poem or song, often used for emphasis.

free verse (vers libre)

A form of poetry that does not adhere to a specific meter or rhyme scheme.

synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa.

bathetic ending

An ending that is anticlimactic or trivial, often subverting expectations.

metaphor

A figure of speech that implies a comparison between two unlike things without using 'like' or 'as'.

overwhelming question

A significant and often existential inquiry that a character grapples with throughout a narrative.

modernity's existential vacuity

The emptiness and lack of meaning in life that arises from modern societal conditions.

baptismal imagery

Symbolic references to baptism, often associated with themes of rebirth or purification.

Hollow Men

A poem by T.S. Eliot that explores themes of spiritual emptiness and disillusionment in modern society.

Spiritual hollowness

Symbolically portrays the modern man's inability to connect with new constructs that 'stuff' us with false meaning.

Death's other kingdom

Ambiguity on what is the 'other kingdom,' heaven or hell.

Valley of dying stars

A biblical allusion to the Valley of the Shadow of Death (Psalms), highlighting the Hollow Men's division of religious faith.

Fragmented Lord's prayer

Eliot reflects the spiritually hollow existence by aesthetically fragmenting the Lord's prayer to expose the Hollow Men's nihilism.

Not with a bang but with a whimper

A phrase indicating the end of the world through the aftermath of war and the decay of humanity over time.

Journey of the Magi

A poem by T.S. Eliot that examines the difficulty and beauty of man's spiritual metamorphosis.

Allegory for conversion

The poem serves as an allegory for Eliot's conversion to Anglo-Catholicism, revealing the disillusionment and existential cost of conversion.

Three trees on the low sky

A reference to the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross.

Satisfactory

An expression of humble faith that resolves Modernist suffering, rather than a grand philosophical epiphany.

Birth or Death?

A rhetorical binary offering hope for spiritual rebirth while entrapment in hedonistic vices complicates the search for meaning.

Another death

A paradoxical conclusion encapsulating the absurdity of liberation found in religious conversion.

Absurdity of liberation

The notion that joy in spiritual rest contrasts with the burden of renouncing a meaningless world.

Nihilism

The belief in the futility of life, reflected in the fragmented structure of the Hollow Men.

Psychological decay

The backdrop against which Eliot externalizes the Hollow Men's division of religious faith.

Modern existence

Characterized by spiritual hollowness and confinement as depicted in the fragmented Lord's prayer.

Biblical allusions

References in 'Hollow' that display the quest for unified belief and meaning.

Pessimistic naturalism

Eliot's worldview that reflects a bleak perspective on human existence.

Existential cost of conversion

The restrictive nature of religious and societal paradigms revealed in Journey of the Magi.

Cultural disillusionment

The theme of disillusionment with traditional narratives in Eliot's work.

Metaphorical constructs

Concepts that symbolize deeper meanings in Eliot's poetry.

Eliot's baptism

Eliot was baptized on June 29, 1927, marking a significant personal transformation.