A composers context is reflected in both their concerns and the stylistic

features of their texts. Consider this statement by exploring the relationship

between text and context in TWO POEMS studied this term.
Composed in the early 20th C, the work of poet T.S Eliot can be read as a direct
reflection of his modernist context and its shift towards new ways of thinking.
Modernist poets pioneered new literary forms in response to both the rapidly changing
material state of the world and also, the resultant expansion in philosophical and
intellectual boundaries. In the poems Preludes and The Love Song of J Alfred
Prufrock (Prufrock), Eliot rejects the optimism of the Victoria era as false to the
reality of modern existence, which is defined by its uncertainty and decline.
Therefore, Eliot has used poetry as a medium for the experience of modernity,
upholding the relationship between text and context.
Eliot employs the modernist technique of fragmentation to reflect upon the
uncertainty of modern life. In the early C20th, rapid industrialisation caused
instability in the external world, which then manifested into the fragmentation of the
individual self. In the poem Preludes, Eliot captures the fragmented nature of human
existence in the collapsed plot, which flows much like a Prelude to a symphony
progressing arbitrarily through changes in theme, subjectivity and meter. Though the
first two lines are in distinct tetrameter (the winter evening settles down, with smells
of steaks in passageways) the third disrupts this meter as order and sequence fall
away under the volatility of the modern world. Nothing can be definite, as even the
notion of certain certainties and the robust imagery of insistent feet are
undermined by the fragile image of some infinitely gentle, infinitely suffering thing.
Eliot thus problematises the readers relation to the modern world in suggesting that
order and coherence are a mere faade for the underlying chaos of reality.
The complexity of the modern world is further encapsulated in the poem Prufrock,
which marks a conscious break from the traditions of Victorian realism. Eliots
multiple allusions, such as to Dantes Inferno and Hesiods Works and Days (the
works and days of hands) imbue the poem with a deliberate complexity to remind the
reader of an old and lost coherence. Just as the reader is uncertain as to the meaning of
the poem, the protagonist Prufrock laments his own uncertainty in the face of radical
freedom his existential crisis. Prufrock transforms seemingly domestic activities
such as descending the staircase into deep existential questions do I dare disturb
the universe? and also the repetition of the question and how should I presume?
Although Prufrock agonises over whether he should force the moment to its crisis,
inevitably he concedes to existential panic in the line and in short, I was afraid. The
erratic verse of Prufrocks stream of consciousness is set apart from the order and
sequence of the women in the room, who are described in the formulaic rhyming
couplet in the room the women come and go, talking of Michelangelo. Throughout
the poem, Prufrocks inability to engage with the ordered world of the women can be
read as a reflection upon Eliots context and societys inability to reach its own
certainties.

A composers context is reflected in both their concerns and the stylistic

features of their texts. Consider this statement by exploring the relationship
between text and context in TWO POEMS studied this term.
Another defining aspect of modernist poetry was the perceived notion that society was
declining along with its individuals. Whilst previous literary forms had glorified
images of nature or romance, Eliot was concerned with the interior experience of the
individual and capturing their fallen state. Throughout the course of Preludes, Eliot
progresses from an impersonal objective tone to the use of first person I am moved,
second person you and third person his. These techniques force the viewer into
the subjectivity of the protagonist, so that we feel and see as they do so that we
assume the decay of urban life as a part of our own reality. This decay first begins to
surround us in the negative imagery of grimy scraps and withered leaves. It then
infects our appearance as with soiled hands, we clasp the yellow soles of feet.
Finally the decay of society filters into our internal systems as a thousand sordid
images corrupt the once purity of what our soul was constituted. This transition
from external to internal is parallel to changes in the modern world, as
industrialisation and war are absorbed into the C20th consciousness.
Similar feelings of decay and decline underpin the experience of modernity in
Prufrock. Whilst the title raises the readers expectation of a lyrical love song to
follow, Eliot leaves us unfulfilled with the protagonist Prufrock, who is an
uncommunicative anti-hero. Again, the readers expectations are thwarted in the
imagery of the first phrase when the evening is spread out against the sky which
appears pure and romantic, but is quickly undercut by the sterile notion of a patient
etherised upon a table. Each of these images is a stand in for Eliots take on the state
of the modern consciousness with the first phrase an elevated notion of what society
could be and the second, the inevitable horror of what it is. Prufrock is a victim to the
decline of his society and fears his own reduction in the force of its decay. This fear is
illustrated in the metonymic description of the yellow fog, which reduces the image of
a cat down toitsrepresentativepartsitstongueandmuzzle,itsactionsofleaping
andcurling.Inasense,theromanticnotionofacathasbeenundercutbyits
disfiguredandfragmentedform,renderedinlinewiththedecayofsocietyandits
individuals. Prufrockisanxiousthatpeopleareconditionednottodefinehimthrough
hisrichandmodestnecktiebutthroughanimageofhisageinganddeclinethe
baldspotinthemiddleof[his]hair.TheobjectofPrufrocksfearishisownsociety,
whichEliothasconstructedfromthewaranddepressionofthemodernworld.
InthetwopoemsPreludesandTheLoveSongofJAlfredPrufrock,Eliothas
capturedtheexperienceofmodernityinpioneeringnewandultimately,modern
forms.Asthemodernistmovementmarkedaradicaldiscontinuityinthehistoryof
ideas,EliottransformedtheconventionsofVictorianpoetrytosuitthenewmodern
consciousness.IntheC20th,adefiningeraoffluxandchange,theshiftingmaterial
stateoftheworldputintoquestionthecertainandconfidentimageofsocietyonce

A composers context is reflected in both their concerns and the stylistic

features of their texts. Consider this statement by exploring the relationship
between text and context in TWO POEMS studied this term.
glorifiedinliterature.Thus,Eliotdrewuponflawsinthemodernconsciousnessto
reduceustowhatwereallyare.