Gerontion is a poem written by T.S. Eliot in 1920. It is a dramatic monologue spoken by an elderly man named Gerontion, who reflects on his life and the world around him. The poem is structured as a series of thoughts and associations, rather than a linear narrative, and it explores themes of aging, identity, and the human condition.
Throughout the poem, Gerontion grapples with the idea of his own identity and the passage of time. He reflects on his past, and the choices he has made, and wonders whether he has lived a meaningful life. He also laments the passing of his youth and the loss of vitality that comes with old age.
Gerontion also reflects on the broader state of the world, and the way that society has changed over time. He sees the world as a place of decay and corruption, and wonders whether there is any hope for redemption. He mentions the collapse of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity, and wonders whether these events were truly significant, or whether they were simply the result of larger, impersonal forces.
One of the key themes in Gerontion is the idea of fragmentation and the loss of meaning. The poem is structured as a series of disconnected thoughts and associations, and Gerontion himself is described as being "an old man in a dry month," suggesting a sense of barrenness and emptiness. This fragmentation is also reflected in the poem's language, which is full of obscure references and allusions, and which resists easy interpretation.
Overall, Gerontion is a thought-provoking and deeply introspective poem that explores the human condition and the passage of time. It is a powerful meditation on the nature of identity, and the ways in which we make sense of our place in the world. So, it is a great masterpiece of T.S. Eliot.
Gerontion poem
What will the spider do, Suspend its operations, will the weevil Delay? First, he had to overcome physical limitations as a child. . Man is helpless like a lonely ship, caught in a sea-storm or a sea girl blown hither and thither by a snow-storm. Many phrases and lines were suggested by Eliot's reading of Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatists. The poem is difficult, chiefly because of the fusions it creates. I that was near your heart was removed therefrom To lose beauty in terror, terror in inquisition.
Eliot Stance in Recent Criticism. Eliot", Modern Age Volume 45, Number 4; Fall 2003, conservative perspective. Vacant shuttles Weave the wind. I have lost my passion: why should I need to keep it Since what is kept must be adulterated? Silvero a man of artistic taste, who visits a holy shrine like Limoges in France. Pungent: delicious, Sauces devices, medicines.
In Jesus's time, the people would say: "We would see a sign! He has no love or faith in the images. Retrieved 16 February 2012. Eliot and the Dialectic of Modernism, University of Massachusetts Press, 1996, p. Antwerp: name of a city in Europe. Retrieved 1 December 2022. Based on the fairly solid principle that 90% of everything is crap, it seems even the greatest artists require reams of effortful mediocrity to produce the occasional flashes of brilliance; sifting oceans, or at least large lakes, of silt through the sieve of the page to catch the gold-dust; piling up mountains of coal before the sheer weight of words squeezes out a gem. The Order of Canada: Its Origins, History, and Development.
The old man is waiting among the ruins of his own life and western civilization, hoping for a sign of renewal, which is identified with rain. Gerontion, on the other hand, is the story of an old man living in the low society. My house is old and decayed. Virtues: Heroism on the war front leads to many rimes and sex perversities. At last human effort and energy are shown to be useless and futile.
Think at last We have not reached conclusion, when I Stiffen in a rented house. Multiply variety in a wilderness of mirrors: This has reference to Ben Jonson's play entitled The Alchemist where Sir Epicure Mammon planned a hall full of mirrors to reflect the naked bodies of his mistresses and thereby excited his sexual passion, i such devices are used by old men to stimulate their sexual appetite. Vacant shuttles Weave the wind. I have no ghosts, An old man in a draughty house Under a windy knob. Blake and the Bible plus Jonathan Edwards and possibly Lancelot Andrewes, both theologians supply Jesus Christ as the tiger and the wrath-bearing Cross. Eliot: The Modernist in History 1991, p.
A Short Analysis of T. S. Eliot’s ‘Gerontion’
However, on the advice of Ezra Pond, it was published separately in "1920-volume. Eventually, as its shadow came to hide other kinds of modernism—from more decisively vernacular language to poems strongly identified with race or revolution— The Waste Land gathered a set of compensatory ambitions and resentments. Closer contact: Some critics feel that this has a reference to his beloved on account of old age, he is sexually impotent and as such cannot have physical satisfaction with his beloved. The Waste Land and Other Poems. Gerontion realizes the decline of religious spirit in modern Europe. . Spiritual decay is bound to come inspite of the new philosophies of rationalism, communism and science.
Benson's life of Fitzgerald supplies the main setting, the "waiting for rain", the boy, the blindness, even the housekeeper making tea. I would like to be frank and honest with you. Retrieved 20 April 2021. The space-time continuum figures prominently in the poem. Despite moving away from the city, Eliot wrote to a friend that "Missouri and the Mississippi have made a deeper impression on me than any other part of the world.
Think at last We have not reached conclusion, when I Stiffen in a rented house. His old age is symbolic of the decay of the modern civilization. Gives too late What's not believed in, or if still believed, In memory only, reconsidered passion. He regards himself "dull head" "among windy spaces. De Bailhache, Fresca , Mrs. . The land-lord is a Jew who sits on the window ledge.
Till the refusal propagates a fear: The refusal refers to the rejection of faith. As such it may misguide man. People under the influence of science have adopted a rational outlook towards Christianity. These with a thousand small deliberations Protract the profit of their chilled delirium, Excite the membrane, when the sense has cooled, With pungent sauces, multiply variety In a wilderness of mirrors. Gerontion feels sorry for the decline in his faith: " I that was near your hear was removed there from, To lose beauty in terror, terror in inquisition.
Will De Bailhache, Fresca, Mrs. In the month of May; dogwood and chestnut, flowering Judas replace the old Christian rituals In the place of a good society nourished by the Christian sacrament which can become a source of life and vigor, Gerontion has a close look at the rootless modern people entirely cut off from the vitality of a living faith. Cambridge University Press 1994 p. Reconsidered passion: History has furnished a new interpretation of the sacrifice of Christ. University of Toronto Press.
