Poems gerontion thou hast nor youth nor age but as it were an after dinner sleep dreaming of both. If any notion remained that in the poems of eliot was sentimentally contrasting a resplendent past with a dismal present, gerontion should have helped to. Eliots gerontion with extended analysis, commentary, and discussion. The format youll use varies depending on where the poem was published and what citation style youre using. You may need to cite poetry in a research paper or presentation, especially in literature courses.
Project gutenberg editors replacement of original footnote. In 1919 eliot published poems which contained gerontion the. Eliot 18881965 gerontion, in 1919, marks a second crystallization and synthesis which lifts it entirely above the rank of the poems composed at about that time, such as the hippopotamus or mr. His greatest worksthe waste land, the love song of j. In the greek drama, says eliot, we are always conscious of a concrete visual actuality, while in the plays of seneca the drama is all in the word, and the word has no further reality behind it. Eliot that was first published in 1920 in ara vos prec and poems.
And generally knowing lots of quotations from old books. Tes global ltd is registered in england company no 02017289 with its registered office at 26 red lion square london wc1r 4hq. Eliot the wasteland and other poems thou hast nor youth nor age but as it were an after dinner sleep dreaming of both. Elliots gerontion the only other thing i could come up with in my reaserch is the. Sep 08, 2016 thou hast nor youth nor age but as it were an after dinner sleep dreaming of both. Eliot thou hast nor youth nor age but as it were an after dinner sleep dreaming of both. Gerontion article about gerontion by the free dictionary.
In 1919 eliot published poems which contained gerontion. The waste land and other poems free pdf, doc, epub, fb2. Poems community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. Especially, in light of just reading gerontion by eliot. Pickthall, marjorie 1883 1922 now in the west the slender moon lies low, and now orion glimmers through the trees, clearing the earth with even pace and slow. I was neither at the hot gates nor fought in the warm rain nor knee deep in the salt marsh, heaving a cutlass, bitten by flies.
Eliot, the 1948 winner of the nobel prize in literature, is one of the giants of modern literature, highly distinguished as a poet, literary critic, dramatist, and editor and publisher. In 1910 and 1911, while still a college student, he wrote the love song of j. The following is the pragmatic analysis of the two poems. Summary at the beginning of the poem an old man is shown who is being read to by a boy.
During that time, eliot was working at lloyds bank and editing the egoist, devoting most of his literary. True to its name, which means of or relating to old age, this poem describes through an old man, his impressions and opinions and laments after the world war i. Eliot uses powerful language to give a fictional, highly condensed, firstperson account of medical and psychological conditions that arise with old age. Eliot 26 september 1888 4 january 1965, an american poet who became a british citizen in 1937. The speaker of this poem does grow because he is very old. The other novels in the series included doctor mirabilis 1964, a historical novel about the thcentury english philosopher and scientist roger bacon, and two novels that blish considered. Aug 20, 2012 this website and its content is subject to our terms and conditions.
Summary and analysis of gerontion by t s eliot beaming notes. He was a foreigner in a society, literary london, that is almost as incestuous and xenophobic as intellectual paris. Oct 17, 2004 gerontion poem by thomas stearns eliot. Thou hast nor youth nor age but as it were an after dinner sleep dreaming of both. Robert frost was born in san francisco, california, to journalist william prescott frost, jr. The work relates the opinions and impressions of a gerontic, or elderly man, through a dramatic monologue which describes europe after world war i through the eyes of a man who has lived the majority of his life in the 19th.
The poem contains six stanzas of free verse describing the relationship between the narrator and the world around him, ending with a couplet that declares, thoughts of a dry brain in a dry season. Gerontion poet gerontion poet is a crossword puzzle clue that we have spotted 6 times. If you delete the first stanza, does that have a material effect on the poem. This poem ends with words that convey a defeated man, in a morally bankrupt environment. The poem was a blankverse interior monologue, and it was unlike anything that had ever been written in the english language. Blistered in brussels, patched and peeled in london. Poems eliotgerontion wikisource, the free online library. His mother was of scottish descent, and his father descended from nicholas frost of tiverton, devon, england, who had sailed to new hampshire in 1634 on the wolfrana. When you first read tradition and the individual talent, you continue reading. Gerontion poem by thomas stearns eliot poem hunter. This poem, peppered with vague references, is a treatise on man deciding for himself what is right and wrong, good, and evil, in modern society. His thought is fused with the description of fitzgeralds old age.
All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws. The work relates the opinions and impressions of a gerontic, or elderly man, through a dramatic monologue which describes europe after world war i through the eyes of a man who has lived the majority of his life in the 19th century. It was first published in 1920 and originally written as a. Eliot finished what became the definitive poem of the modern condition, one that still casts a large and ominous shadow over twentiethcentury poetry. If any notion remained that in the poems of eliot was sentimentally contrasting a resplendent past with a dismal present. Gerontion describes only the unstilled world, the turning wheel, the hollow passagesnot the garden where all love ends, the ending of lust and the goal of love. If you delete the first line, does that have a material effect on the poem.
Gerontion, by t s eliot was first published in the year 1920. The point at which time ends and eternity begins, at which history disappears in unity and the winding spiral vanished in the word, is lost to the world of the poem. Hugh kenner has noticed that eliots characterization of senecan drama provides a fair description of gerontion. In 1910 and 1911, while still a college student, he wrote the love song. The epigraph is from shakespeares measure for measure iii. Eliot, in full thomas stearns eliot, born september 26, 1888, st. As if that didnt garner enough attention, in 1922 eliot saw the publication of the waste land, a colossal and complex examination of postwar disillusionment. The term gerontion probably comes from the word germination which means to grow. Eliot, published in his poems 1920, presents the fragmented thoughts of an old man. Collected poems, 19091962 poems 1920 gerontion summary. Alfred prufrock, and the poems that make up the four quartetsreflected the despair and desolation of the world after the world wars. I was neither at the hot gates nor fought in the warm rain nor knee deep in the salt marsh, heaving a cutlass. Eliot, published in his poems 1920, presents the fragmented thoughts of an old man in a dry month, who without vital experience of faith is. Perhaps the uncertainty regarding the identity behind each female figure may spring from the ambivalence of the poets and speakers attitude, confusing sensual and divine love in their mysticism, similar to the themes and attitudes explored in gerontion and other poems childs, 1997.
If any notion remained that in the poems of 1919 eliot was. He starts drifting into his thoughts and the actual thoughts form the poem. The poem casts the title character, gerontion, a name derived from the greek geron in its diminutive form, suggesting a little old man, as reflecting in his room while being read to by a. Editorinchief, persuaded eliot to drop gerontion as a prelude to the waste land, one would sense at once a strong similarity in the visions of the two poems.
Eliot originally wanted to position this poem in front of the waste land. Gerontion thou hast nor youth nor age but as it were an after dinner sleep dreaming of both. Thou hast nor youth nor age but as it were an after dinner sleep dreaming of both page. A penguin classic while recovering from a mental collapse in a swiss sanitarium in 1921, t. The opening two or three lines set the poems mood and tone, even if you consciously subvert them. Eliot is the author of the waste land, which is now considered by many to be the most influential poetic work of the twentieth century. Here i am, an old man in a dry month, being read to by a boy, waiting for rain. Eliots poem gerontion 1920, after such knowledge, what forgiveness. I know we read tradition and the individual talent last week, but ive decided i needed to talk about it now. Gerontion thinks of the coming of christ in two ways, first as a useless infant and then as a hunted tiger. The reader of a poem should take at least as much trouble as a barrister reading a decision on a complicated case, the truth of eliots poetry still applies, even in our modern world where we have a million different ways to communicate but still arent sure what to say. The scene is a vienna prison, the speaker is the states disguised ruler, duke vincentio, and the listener a young man, claudio, who has been condemned to death by vincentios temporary standin, angelo, for bedding and getting with child juliet. Eliot exercised a strong influence on angloamerican culture from the 1920s until late.