This work of poetry, can be summarized as being about an lenghthy poem, that is divided up into five sections. So, that there appears to be an series of five different poems, inside of one long poem. The first poem is titled "The Burial of the Dead". The poem, seems to describe an sense of chilliness and little warmth. The poem describes how April is an harsh month. This is due to the fact, that the snow and rain has buried any signs of life. Such as killing the lilacs and dulling the roots of the trees. The poem goes farther to describe images in terms like "broken" and "dead". So needless to say, there are little mentions of warmth in this poetry. This same sentiment, could be echoed throughout the rest of the verses.
While I was reading this work of writing, I could not help but have an question that I would have liked to be able to ask Eliot if I could. The question is "what was going through your mind, as you wrote this piece of poetry"?. This is not an poem, that one could write in an short period of time. This had been due to the fact, that the poem is lengthy and seems to have been wrote, over an period of time. When it comes to any other connections, that I may have established while reading the text; I would have to say that this poem also reminded me of "Howl" by Ginsberg. That was due to the fact, that both writings have an sense of foreboding, of being lost in the warped words of the writer. These poems seemed to all have an sense of wanting to escape, and yet finding that there is nowhere to escape to. Also, each verse seems to be more disconnected, from the rest of the other verses.
When it comes to any other class readings that I may have had an sense of familiarity, while reading this form of poetry, it was that I immediately thought of Eliot's other poem. The name of this poem is "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". This poem also had an sense of not knowing exactly what it was that the writer wished to convey.
Lastly, this poem seemed to be about an desolate area of confusion. It was hard for me to be able to understand and interpet. The poet seemed to be speaking of whatever it was that was going through his mind, that greatly bothered him. Also the poem was divided into five sections. And each section, was giving names like "The Burial of the Sea", "A Game of Chess", "The Fire Sermon", "A Death by Water", and "What the Thunder Said". This gives the reader, an sense of melancholy and darkness. so the reader could already anticipate, that these were not going to be light-hearted readings. The writings did appear to be very gothic-laced and dreary.
I would like to make, several more comments about this piece of poetry. One comment, is that in class, the section of the poem titled "A Game of Chess" was more closely examined. The poem seems to tell the story of two women in an pub, at closing time. The woman is telling the other woman named Lil that her husband will cheat on her, if she doesn't get her teeth fixed and try to improve her appearance. Her husband has been away serving in the army for the past four years. The poem also goes on, to describe their conversation more closely. In that, the reader gets an sense that the woman named Lil has just recently terminated an pregnancy. She already has five children, and nearly died giving birth to her last baby. It is noted, that the women are of an low class. Also, the woman has spent all the money that her husband sent her, having the abortion performed. Lastly, the woman is being instructed that her duty in life, is to look after her children and the welfare of her husband. However, one gets an sense, that the baby that was aborted was not her husband's child.
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