Author Archives: Platon

Isolation and References in TS Eliot’s “J. Alfred Prufrock” and “The Hollow Men”

21 Tuesday Mar 2017

Posted by in Book Symposion, Essays

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“That is not what I meant at all; That is not it, at all.”

– T. S. Eliot, ‘The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock’ (1915)

 

Eliot’s poems “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and “The Hollow Men” are different in subject matter, but they both share the thematic framework and tone that one would expect from the author of “The Waste Land.” They can also be read as two sides of the same coin that depicts Eliot’s view of the modern world: the individual perspective, and its societal counterpart. While “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” seems to be a personal account of a dream vision, “The Hollow Men” features a collective voice of individuals who have lost their individuality and identity, and they both coexist in a world that is defined by isolation as a result of a communication breakdown. In both poems, Eliot sets the tone with references to other works, much like in “The Waste Land”, and constructs the voice of each poem based on that tone. In this way, the epigraphs serve to set the poems in their respective literary contexts in the eyes of the reader. In turn, the voice of each poem uses additional references to further explore the themes that dominate them. The main themes of isolation and miscommunication in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and “The Hollow Men” are rooted in the voices that Eliot has constructed, and are highlighted by the literary references enriching these voices. Continue reading →

“Blue Lights”

27 Friday Jan 2017

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When the lights are low

And you gaze around the room

At the people, and the tune is low

In your bourbon-tinted look

 

Do you get that sweaty feeling

Chills traveling down your neck

Is it cold inside your mind

And your feet can’t get no rest

 

Do you want to sit down

Lie with me on the dancefloor

We’ll go later for a long drive

In the night we can find more

Blue Lights

 

You’ll swing to the music

And light another cigar

I’ll go steal a few bottles

From the back of the bar

And we’ll go for a long drive

In the night we can find more

Blue Lights

Literary Impressionism in “The Good Soldier” and “Mrs Dalloway”

18 Wednesday Jan 2017

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The Modernists’ Perception of Reality and Time

When talking about modernist writers, and particularly the high modernists, if such a term can be agreed upon, there is something beyond Pound’s famous make-it-new statement and idea that seems to dominate their writing. While the term literary Impressionism, much like Impressionism itself, has been historically problematic amongst writers and critics who have attempted to formulate a fully-formed definition, this quality of the modernist writers cannot go unnoticed, nor without remark. Jesse Matz has written extensively on this subject and notes that “For Proust, as we have seen, the impression is something that reality prints but that the writer must labor to decipher” (32). This is fairly true for modernist writers, but they go a step further and add characters as an extra layer of deciphering. The forces that drove the Impressionist painters during the late 19th century are the same behind modernist writers who try to represent a different view of reality. Continue reading →

“What Happens in New Orleans”

13 Friday Jan 2017

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You’ve got your black dress on

And your pinup hairstyle

You look good on the floor

I’m getting some dark vibes

 

I’d like to take you out

And if the night goes well

We can dance like Mia and Vince

To “You Never Can Tell”

 

But then you look at me

And I suddenly feel

So hot, and dark, and burning

And when I turn around

I hear you lean in

And I wait for the bite

 

You can drive my car

Go as fast as you like

And if you want to stop

I know a place we can hide

 

I see you steering, with your knee

On my Mustang’s wheel

And when you look at me

I suddenly feel

So hot, and dark, and burning

And when I look at you

I see you turning

And I wait for the bite

 

I never knew what it was

But I found out how it went

You have sucked me dry

But that’s not what I meant