Modernism I. Americans in Paris

born and raised in America

studied at Harvard University

In 1927 he became a British citizen

In 1948 he was awarded a Nobel prize

Belongs to both, the english and American literary canon (both Norton anthologies)

He held political views that were conservative and became even more around 1930

“The hollow men” offers a very pessimistic view of modern life

Modernism is very paradox, many modernist writers sometimes sound as if they hated modern civilization

consists of five parts

There are no classic stanzas, but within the five parts we see subdivisions: lines are grouped together

Poem is written in free verse

There are a few end rhymes + a few internal rhymes, but there is no rhyme pattern

At the beginning there are two mottos

-> we ignore the footnotes, because in 1925 there werde no footnotes

The layout is interesting because in part 5 there are passages in italics (Kursivdruck)

Some passages in italics are aligned to the right

-> For Thine is the kingdom

-> life is very long

in the first two lines there is a thesis statement -> we are the hollow men, we are the stuffed men

Seams important because the title is also “the hollow men”

In line 17-18 this is repeated: as the hollow men, the stuffed men

The idea of hollowness is repeated in l. 55 (hollow valley), l. 67 empty men

Poem sounds gloomy

-> our dry voices are meaningless, the sound of these voices remind him of rats feet over broken glass

-> rats are again mentioned later, the idea of dryness too -> this is the dead land / the cactus land