Gerontion

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In the reading the short poem by T. S. Eliot called "Gerontion", it is very clear from the beginning that this is not going to be one of those poems that tells you everything is alright and will continue to alright. Instead this poem takes down the exact opposite route, telling readers how everything is in this man’s life is being destroyed and nothing is going his way anymore. This poem has many modernism characteristics to it, such as focusing on loss instead of gain, questioning religion and what it stands for, and also being a first person narrative (Byrne). This poem was published about a year after WWI whenever Eliot moved from America to Europe, so what the destroyed Europe looked like as well, as his discontent both play a factor into his negative feelings in this poem. "Gerontion" is said to be to prelude to some of Eliot’s later and also dark poems such as "Waste Land", and this dark theme can to seen throughout his poem of "Gerontion" (Murphy). This poem focuses on the negative things that this old man has in the poem and refuses to see any brightness still included in the man’s life, which may have come from all the negative things that were surrounding Eliot when he composed this poem.

Being that this poem is one of the earliest works to be considered truly a modernism work, it is very easy to see modernism characteristics come out is this poem, and why it is considered to be a modernism work. One of the most evident features of this poem is that the speaker focuses on the negative things in his life and also the destruction of his life (Eliot). Two very clear characteristics that are found in this poem are sexuality and loss and this section includes them both: “I have lost my passion: why should I need to keep it Since what is kept must be adulterated? I have lost my sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch: How should I use them for your closer contact?” (Eliot) Not only does this section deal loss of the all the man’s senses but, also deals with his sexuality because, he can no longer use these things to feel the passion and love of his partner. To see that it is a first person narrative is very obvious because, you can tell right from the person line that the speaker says that he is talking about himself; first person narratives are very relevant in modernism works and this is just another characteristic that adds to this poem being included in the modernism work category. Many modernism works question religion and this work in no different by referring to Christ as a tiger who devours people; he does not literally devour people but, Eliot means that as we age year after year, Christ continues to take more and more things away from use such as senses, loved ones, and memories (Eliot). With this work being essentially at the start of the modernism era, the characteristics have to be clear to separate it from other eras, and the characteristics that set it apart from other eras are very apparent.

Eliot’s life greatly affected this work because, what he was doing and where was at play a major role in this work. Eliot had just moved to Europe due to his discount towards America, but much of Europe was in shambles after WWI (Day). These scenes of destruction, as well as the sense of loss all around him by people had to of played a major contribution to why much of this poem was centered on loss. Much of things the man lost are also things that both societies of Europe and America lost at that time period, so the fact that the man lost many things in this poem may symbolize much of what societies where losing at that time period. At this time in his life when Eliot wrote this poem, there was not much hope around him at all, which is one of the key things to understand when trying to understand how his life affected this poem (Murphy).

Many people see this poem as sort of a preview to some of Eliot’s later works such as "Waste Land" so the similarities between these two poems is very clear when you start to look at them (Murphy). While "Waste Land" deals with the destruction of a man’s life, //Waste Land// more deals with how society is broken down (Murphy). However, the interesting thing to see between these two poems is that "Gerontion" symbolizes not just destruction in one’s life but, also the destruction that can be found in one society. The fact that both of these deal with destruction is very interesting because, Eliot chooses to explore destruction in society in very different ways but, they both portray the same message. In the work //"//All Rivers Run to the See" by Elie Wiesel it also focuses on what is lost just like this poem (Wiesel). Loss seems to be a major theme in modernism works, and with loss being a major theme in this poem it is easy to see how it relates to other modernism works.

In conclusion, this is a very dark and hopeless poem that was influenced by modernism and Eliot’s life. It exhibits many modernism characteristics such as loss, sexuality, and questioning modern religion. With Eliot seeing loss all around him, it is very easy to see where he got the inspiration for this poem. This poem relates to other poems of this time period because of the strong themes that it includes in it. This is very strong poem that is very easy to categorize as a modernism work.

Work Cited  Byrne, C. J. "Understanding Modernism & Postmodernism." //Writing.Com: Writers, Writing, Poetry, Creative Writing, Fiction Writing, Poetry Contests, Writing Contests//. 2005. Web. 03 May 2010. .

Day, Thomas. "‘Gerontion’ and the Context of Belief." //Agendra Poetry//. Web. 3 May 2010. . Eliot, T. S. "Gerontion." //Bartleby.com: Great Books Online//. Web. 3 May 2010. .

Murphy, Russell E. "Gerontion." //Bloom's Literary Reference Online//. Facts On File. Web. 3 May 2010. .