Poetry · Question
How does Poetry develop the theme of Time and Mortality?
Answer
Poetry by T. S. Eliot develops Time and Mortality across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
A pervasive anxiety about the passage of time, aging, and death runs through the collection, from Prufrock measuring his life 'with coffee spoons' to the skeletal imagery and the refrain 'Hurry up please it's time' in The Waste Land.
The repeated refrain 'there will be time' contrasts with Prufrock's awareness of aging ('I grow old') and the pressure of mortality, leading to paralysis rather than action.
The lady's awareness of her approaching death and the speaker's imagined scene of her dying afternoon underscore the theme of mortality.
The woman speaks of being 'about to reach her journey’s end,' and the April sunsets evoke the passage of time.
Evidence in the book
- The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
The repeated refrain 'there will be time' contrasts with Prufrock's awareness of aging ('I grow old') and the pressure of mortality, leading to paralysis rather than action.
- Portrait of a Lady
The lady's awareness of her approaching death and the speaker's imagined scene of her dying afternoon underscore the theme of mortality.
- II
The woman speaks of being 'about to reach her journey’s end,' and the April sunsets evoke the passage of time.
- I
The 'burnt-out ends of smoky days' and the setting of six o'clock mark the passage of time and the decay of the day, hinting at mortality.
- II
The line 'time resumes' suggests the relentless cycle of daily life and the passage of time, underscoring mortality.
- The Boston Evening Transcript
The evening quickening and the nod to Rochefoucauld evoke a sense of passing time and the weight of routine.
- Aunt Helen
The death of Aunt Helen and the subsequent silence, the undertaker's routine, and the parrot's death all underscore the inevitability of mortality and the passage of time.
- Gerontion
The speaker's old age, the dry season, and the meditation on history's deceptive passages emphasize the passage of time and approaching death.
