Hollow Men Poem

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Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot was first published in Poems: 1909-1925 and contains many overlapping themes that were also seen in many of his other works. Moreover, "The Hollow Men" is reflective of the overarching themes that were seen in World War I poetry and may also provide an introspective look into Eliot's emotional and psychological state at the time. In "The Hollow Men," Eliot uses allusions, imagery, and an overall theme of despair and isolation.

"The Hollow Men" makes references to at least two outside works or events, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. In addition to being referenced in the five parts of Eliot's poem, these two allusions are also referenced in the poem's epigraph as Eliot writes "Mistah Kurtz -- he dead" and "A penny for the Old Guy" (lines-epigraph). In Heart of Darkness, Kurtz realized, upon his deathbed, the extent of humanity's horrific nature a concept that is reflected in "The Hollow Men." Moreover, Eliot's poem appears to depict a more horrific aspect of death as it progresses. For example, the first part of the poem introduces "the hollow men" that are the main topic of the poem. It is not clear if these "hollow men" are alive or dead as the only distinction that is drawn arises when the unnamed, and presumably hollow narrator, states "Those that 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" (lines 13-17).

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The second section appears to define the narrator's expectations of "death's Kingdom" and how it not as he had expected; whereas the narrator expected to encounter "Eyes I dare not meet in dreams/in death's dream kingdom" he instead finds that "the eyes are/Sunlight on a broken column" (lines 19-23).

The second section of "The Hollow Men" uses imagery to describe what the narrator saw and heard while in "death's kingdom," as well as his desire to wear "deliberate disguises" (line 32). In addition to the "sunlight on a broken column," the narrator also sees "a tree swinging" an implication that….....

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