50 Important Quotes You Should Pay Attention to in Poetry by TS Eliot

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TS Eliot Quotes About Life

#11: “S’io credesse che mia risposta fosse…Senza tema d’infamia ti rispondo.”

• Poem: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915)
• Techniques: Allusion, excerpt from Dante’s Inferno (Canto 27), characterisation of Prufrock as Guido de Montafeltro (the doomed spirit in the Dante excerpt)

#12: “I have measured out my life in coffee spoons.”

• Poem: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915)
• Techniques: Metaphor, imagery

TS Eliot Quotes About Death

#13: “The last twist of the knife.”

• Poem: “Rhapsody on a Windy Night” (1911)
• Techniques: Metaphor, imagery, allusion

#14: “This is the dead land / This is the cactus land.”

• Poem: “The Hollow Men” (1925)
• Techniques: Imagery, polysyndeton

Analysis:

In this poem, Eliot is painting a bleak picture of a world that is devoid of life and meaning. The “dead land” refers to a place that is lifeless and lacking any sense of vitality or growth. The “cactus land” is an image that reinforces this idea of barrenness, as cacti are plants that are able to survive in harsh, desert-like environments where other plants would not be able to thrive.

By using these images, Eliot is expressing the idea that modern society has become a place where people are unable to connect with each other or with their spiritual selves. He is suggesting that the modern world is like a desert, where life is scarce and people are isolated from one another.

The phrase “This is the dead land” is repeated later in the poem, further emphasizing the feeling of emptiness and desolation that Eliot is trying to convey. Through these images, Eliot is commenting on the state of modern society and urging people to find a way to connect with each other and with their spiritual selves in order to bring meaning and vitality back into their lives.

#15: “The eyes are not here / There are no eyes here / In this valley of dying stars / In this hollow valley / This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms”

• Poem: “The Hollow Men” (1925)
• Techniques: Synecdoche, allusion, metaphor

#16: “And three trees on the low sky, / And an old white horse…Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver”

• Poem: “Journey of the Magi” (1927)
• Techniques: Allusions, symbolism, portents

#17: “Every street lamp that I pass / Beats like a fatalistic drum”

• Poem: “Rhapsody on a Windy Night” (1911)
• Techniques: Simile, synaesthesia

#18: “death’s dream kingdom” and “death’s other Kingdom”.

• Poem: “The Hollow Men” (1925)
• Techniques: Repetition, (Biblical) allusion, metaphor

#19: “I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, / And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, / And in short, I was afraid.”

• Poem: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915)
• Techniques: Allusion, diction, metaphor

Analysis:

Prufrock is describing a moment when he realised that his potential for greatness had passed him by. The “moment of my greatness” refers to a time when Prufrock could have seized an opportunity to achieve something significant, but instead he missed it. The image of the “eternal Footman” holding his coat and snickering suggests that Prufrock is being mocked and that his potential has been squandered.

The line “And in short, I was afraid” shows Prufrock’s own realisation that he has failed to live up to his potential and has missed his chance for greatness. This fear is also reflected in other parts of the poem, where Prufrock struggles with his own insecurities and feelings of inadequacy.

Overall, the quote expresses Prufrock’s regret and frustration with his own life, as he realises that his potential has been wasted and that he has missed his chance to make a meaningful impact. Through Prufrock’s monologue, Eliot is exploring the theme of missed opportunities and the fear of growing old without having lived a fulfilling life.

#20: “Shape without form, shade without colour, / Paralysed force, gesture without motion”

• Poem: “The Hollow Men” (1925)
• Techniques: Oxymoron, rhetoric

Disillusionment and Loss of Spirituality

Disillusionment with modernity/urban life

#21: “After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets, / After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor -”

• Poem: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915)
• Techniques: Sibilance, polysyndeton, synecdoche

#22: “sordid images / Of which your soul was constituted”

• Poem: “Preludes” (1917)
• Techniques: Metaphor, diction, imagery

#23: “I could see nothing behind that child’s eye.”

• Poem: “Rhapsody on a Windy Night” (1911)
• Techniques: Metaphor, allegory

#24: “To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet”

• Poem: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915)
• Techniques: Synecdoche, metaphor

Analysis: 

In the poem, this line is part of a larger reflection by the speaker, J. Alfred Prufrock, on the societal expectations and conventions that dictate how people present themselves to the world.

The phrase “prepare a face” refers to the idea of putting on a mask or facade in order to conform to societal norms and expectations. Prufrock is suggesting that people create a particular image of themselves in order to fit in and be accepted by others. The “faces that you meet” refers to the various people and social groups that one encounters in daily life, and the pressure to present a certain image to each of these groups.

The line is an example of Prufrock’s own self-awareness and his recognition of the societal pressures that shape people’s identities. Through this line, Eliot is exploring the theme of the masks and facades that people wear in order to fit into society and the inauthenticity that often results from this. He is also suggesting that people’s true selves are often hidden behind these masks, and that the need to conform to societal expectations can prevent people from living truly authentic lives.

#25: “The bed is open; the tooth-brush hangs on the wall, / Put your shoes at the door, sleep, prepare for life”

• Poem: “Rhapsody on a Windy Night” (1911)
• Techniques: Tricolon, metaphor, allegory

#26: “I should be glad of another death”

• Poem: “Journey of the Magi” (1927)
• Techniques: Metaphor, oxymoron

#27: “And running away”; “And the night-fires going out”;“And the cities hostile”;“And the villages dirty”

• Poem: “Journey of the Magi” (1927)
• Techniques: Polysyndeton, imagery

#28: “And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory… / we regretted / The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces, / And the silken girls bringing sherbet.”

• Poem: “Journey of the Magi” (1927)
• Techniques: Diction, polysyndeton, juxtaposition

#29: “She winks a feeble eye”

• Poem: “Rhapsody on a Windy Night” (1911)
• Techniques: Personification, imagery

#30: “And would it have been worth it, after all, / After the cups, the marmalade, the tea”

• Poem: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915)
• Techniques: Rhetorical question, tricolon

#31: “One thinks of all the hands / That are raising dingy shades / In a thousand furnished rooms”

• Poem: “Preludes” (1917)
• Techniques: Synecdoche, hyperbole, imagery

Analysis:

This line provides a vivid image of the monotony of urban life, as the speaker imagines hands repetitively raising shades in window after window of rented rooms. The use of the word “dingy” to describe the shades implies that the rooms are unkempt and lacking in beauty, suggesting a lack of care or attention to detail in the lives of the people who inhabit them.

The repetition of the action of raising the shades emphasizes the monotony and uniformity of life in the city. The large number of hands and rooms creates a sense of an overwhelming and impersonal urban environment, in which individual lives are lost in the anonymity of the city.

In this way, the line reflects Eliot’s broader themes in his poems of modern life and the alienation and loss of meaning that people can experience in an urban landscape.

#32: “But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen”

• Poem: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915)
• Techniques: Metaphor, imagery

#33: “Smells of chestnuts in the streets, / And female smells in shuttered rooms, / And cigarettes in corridors / And cocktail smells in bars.”

• Poem: “Rhapsody on a Windy Night” (1911)
• Techniques: (olfactory) Imagery, polysyndeton

Loss of Spirituality

#34: “For Thine is / Life is / For Thine is the”

• Poem: “The Hollow Men” (1925)
• Techniques: Tercet, biblical allusion, polysyndeton

#35: “The eyes are not here / There are no eyes here / In this valley of dying stars / In this hollow valley / This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms”

• Poem: “The Hollow Men” (1925)
• Techniques: Synecdoche, repetition, metaphor

#36: “Lips that would kiss / Form prayers to broken stone.”

• Poem: “The Hollow Men” (1925)
• Techniques: Oxymoron, allusion

Analysis:

The line is a metaphor for the emptiness and despair that characterises the “hollow men” of the title. The image of lips forming prayers to broken stone suggests that the hollow men’s words and actions have lost their meaning and power, as if they are speaking to something that is incapable of hearing or responding.

The use of the word “prayers” highlights the religious connotations of the line, and the broken stone evokes a sense of destruction and decay. The phrase “broken stone” might also be a reference to graven images, or statues, in religious contexts, which are often believed to be lifeless and powerless. In this way, the line suggests that the hollow men have lost touch with spirituality and that their attempts to connect with something greater are fruitless.

Overall, the line reflects the broader themes of “The Hollow Men,” which explore the themes of spiritual desolation, loss of meaning, and the search for something greater in a world that has become fragmented and meaningless.

#37: “this Birth was / Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death”

• Poem: “Journey of the Magi” (1927)
• Techniques: Biblical allusion, metaphor, juxtaposition

#38: “alien people clutching their gods”

• Poem: “Journey of the Magi” (1927)
• Techniques: Allusion, metaphor

#39: “Under the twinkle of a fading star”

• Poem: “The Hollow Men” (1925)
• Techniques: Biblical allusion, imagery

#40: “I am moved by fancies that are curled / Around these images”

• Poem: “Preludes” (1917)
• Techniques: Metafiction, metaphor

TS Eliot Quotes About Time

#41: Repeated refrain of time signatures in “Rhapsody on a Windy Night” – “Twelve o’clock.”; “Half past one.”

• Poem: “Rhapsody on a Windy Night” (1911)
• Techniques: Repetition, signposting

#42: “Do I dare / Disturb the universe? / In a minute there is time / For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.”

• Poem: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915)
• Techniques: Oxymoron, rhetorical question

#43: “There will be time, there will be time…Time for you and time for me, / And time yet for a hundred indecisions, / And for a hundred visions and revisions, / Before the taking of a toast and tea.”

• Poem: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915)
• Techniques: Repetition, oxymoron, metaphor

#44: “For I have known them all already, known them all— / Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, / I have measured out my life with coffee spoons”

• Poem: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915).
• Techniques: Tricolon, metaphor. 

#45: “Between the idea / And the reality / Between the motion / And the act / Falls the Shadow”

• Poem: “The Hollow Men” (1925)
• Techniques: Oxymoron, allusion

#46: “At four and five and six o’clock”

• Poem: “Preludes” (1917)
• Techniques: Rhythm, tricolon, allusion (urban commuter times, mundanity of life)

Analysis:

The line appears in a stanza that describes the sounds and sights of a city at various times of the day. The repetition of the specific times “four and five and six o’clock” suggests the monotony and uniformity of life in the city, as the same sounds and sights are repeated every day.

In this way, the line highlights one of the central themes of Eliot’s poems, which is the alienation and loss of meaning that people can experience in an urban landscape. The repetition of the times may also suggest the idea of time passing, with the same activities happening over and over again without any sense of change or progress.

Overall, the line helps to create a vivid and haunting picture of the city and contributes to the sense of atmosphere and mood in the poem.

#47: “A cold coming we had of it…we regretted / The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces”

• Poem: “Journey of the Magi” (1927)
• Techniques: Metaphor (for Romanticism vs. Modernism), juxtaposition

#48: “Held in a lunar synthesis, / Whispering lunar incantations / Dissolve the floors of memory”

• Poem: “Rhapsody on a Windy Night” (1911)
• Techniques: Repetition, metaphor, allusion (cyclical time)

#49: “The moon has lost her memory…She is alone / With all the old nocturnal smells / That cross and cross across her brain”

• Poem: “Rhapsody on a Windy Night” (1911)
• Techniques: Assonance, metaphor, allusion

#50: “And how should I begin?”

• Poem: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1915)
• Techniques: Rhetorical question, irony (question comes halfway through the poem)

Analysis:

The line reflects Prufrock’s hesitation and self-doubt, which are recurring themes throughout the poem.

The phrase “And how should I begin?” can also be interpreted more broadly as a question about how one should start or approach any significant or meaningful task, whether it is a conversation, a relationship, or some other aspect of life. In this way, the line speaks to the larger theme of indecision and inaction that pervades the poem, as Prufrock struggles to make decisions and take action in his life.

Overall, the line is an important moment in the poem, as it captures Prufrock’s internal struggle and sets the tone for the rest of the poem.