Preludes - T.S. Eliot | BOSEM English Literature Reader | Class 10

 Board of Secondary Education Manipur (BOSEM)

Class - X

English Literature Reader (Poetry)

Chapter - 5

Preludes

Thomas Stearns Eliot

T.S. Eliot (Wikisource)

Substance/Summary of the Poem

The poetry of T.S. Eliot presents a intricate and visually evocative story about the sombre and gloomy aspects of urban life and the condition of the human spirit.

The poem commences with the narrator depicting a city as it transitions into the night. Emphasis is placed on the aroma of cooking steak pervading the air and the prevalence of grime on the streets. Various discarded items such as newspapers and other debris swirl around "your" feet. The initial section concludes as indoor lights are switched on.

In the subsequent section, the poem resumes with the morning, as the city awakens. There is a lingering scent of beer in the atmosphere, and individuals are raising their grimy blinds, disheartened to confront yet another day identical to the preceding ones.

Analysis of the Poem

The winter evening settles down

With smell of steaks in passageways.

Six o’clock.

The burnt-out ends of smoky days.

And now a gusty shower wraps

The grimy scraps

Of withered leaves about your feet

And newspapers from vacant lots;

In the opening lines of the poem "Preludes," the speaker sets the scene by describing a winter evening as the day draws to a close. The speaker personifies the day, comparing it to a person, in order to help the reader better understand the atmosphere. Additionally, the speaker introduces the smell of steak, which permeates the city through passageways from restaurants and homes, adding a layer of sensory detail to the setting. This description contrasts with the calmness initially implied, as the speaker portrays the day as "burnt-out" and tiring, on the brink of settling down.

Furthermore, the speaker introduces a rainstorm, which causes the remnants of the long day to be moved about the streets, creating a sense of disorder. The shift to the second person perspective aligns the reader more closely with the narrative, as the speaker directly involves them in the experience. The mention of newspapers being carried by the wind from "vacant lots" also adds to the imagery, contributing to the overall sense of desolation and urban decay in the poem's setting.

The showers beat

On broken blinds and chimney-pots,

And at the corner of the street

A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps.

And then the lighting of the lamps.

The current downpour is relentless, assaulting the buildings and causing the “broken blinds and chimney pots” to rattle. The speaker vividly portrays the deteriorating state of the city.

In the concluding lines, the speaker directs the reader's attention to the

 "…corner of the street
A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps.
And then the lightning of the lamps."

The cityscape becomes increasingly dramatic as a solitary horse in the distance exhales steam and rhythmically stamps its hooves. The final line stands apart from the rest of the stanza as the speaker depicts the "lightning of the lamps," symbolizing the onset of night as inhabitants illuminate their homes. This underscores the notion that the city's residents have sought refuge indoors, far from the tumultuous streets.

The morning comes to consciousness

Of faint stale smells of beer

From the sawdust-trampled street

With all its muddy feet that press

To early coffee-stands.

With the other masquerades

That time resumes,

One thinks of all the hands

That are raising dingy shades

In a thousand furnished rooms.

In this part, the speaker jumps ahead to the morning after the previous night. This demonstrates Eliot's use of personification, as the city is described as coming back to “consciousness,” similar to a person waking up. The first smell the speaker notices is that of “stale…beer,” a lingering remnant from the events of the previous night.

Additionally, the speaker observes footprints in the mud leading to “early coffee-stands.” This detail is significant as it ties into the next line, where the speaker emphasises the unchanging routine of life. The city's residents require coffee to resume their daily "masquerades" with time.

The speaker prompts the reader to consider,

"…of all the hands

That are raising dingy shades

In a thousand furnished rooms."

This portrayal of morning does not necessarily signify a fresh start to life. Instead, the people are reluctantly returning to the same repetitive tasks. The mention of “masquerade” balls is relevant because time appears to be at a standstill, with no changes to the rhythm of life.

Solved Textual Exercises

I. Answer the following in a sentence each.

1. What season of the year is suggested in the  first paragraph?

Ans.: - The season of the year that is suggested in the first paragraph is winter.

2. What is the evening compared to?

Ans.: - The evening is compared to burnt out ends to smoky days.

3. What surrounds the feet of the passers-by?

Ans.: - The feet of passers-by are surrounded by scattered withered leaves and fragments of newspapers.

4. When do the showers beat?

Ans.: - The showers beat in the evening.

5. What does the cab-horse do?

Ans.: - The horse-drawn carriage's horse exhales steam and stomps its hooves due to its impatience and discomfort in the cold weather.

6. What smell fills the morning air?

Ans.: - The morning air is filled with the smell of stale beer.

7. How are the feet of the men going to coffee-stands?

Ans.: - The men's feet remain muddy from the streets as they make their way to the coffee stands.

8. "...hands

That are raising dinghy shades"

Whose hands are referred to here?

Ans.: - The poet mentions the hands of the urban residents, which are involved in repetitive and monotonous daily tasks.

II. Answer the following questions briefly.

1. "The winter evening settles down

With smells of steaks in the passage ways"

What do these lines suggest?

Ans.: - The lines above indicate that the air in the city is infused with the aroma of cooking meat, which in turn creates an unpleasant evening atmosphere.

2. Why does Eliot compare the evening with "the burnt out ends of smoky days"?

Ans.: - Eliot's comparison of the evening to "the burnt out ends of smoky day" suggests that evening signifies the conclusion of the day, much like the remains of a consumed cigarette. In this context, "smoky days" alludes to mundane, uneventful days lacking excitement. These are days spent with minimal engagement in activities, possibly due to unfavourable weather conditions characterised by the presence of smoke.

3. "The grimy scraps of withered leaves about your feet." What do these lines suggest?

Ans.: - The line implies that the streets and pathways are strewn with dried leaves, newspapers, and various other types of litter. Despite this, people seem indifferent to the mess, and life continues amidst the filth.

4. "The showers beat on broken blinds and chimney-pots." What are the impressions created by this line?

Ans.: - This line conveys the idea that the rain intensifies the gloomy and dismal atmosphere. No one made an effort to fix the broken blinds, and life continues in a monotonous, robotic fashion.

5. What effect does Eliot want to create by the image "faint stale smells of beers."

Ans.: -Eliot conveys the morning air's lack of freshness in the town through the phrase "faint stale smells of beers." Additionally, he aims to depict the city dwellers as being prone to vices, suggesting that the morning air is tainted by the scent of stale beer consumed by them the previous night.

6. "Sawdust-trampled street" Explain the image created by this line.

Ans.: - This sentence paints a picture of a street covered in mud and slush, depicting how the residents try to minimize the mud by using sawdust, only to find that it sticks to their feet, exacerbating the situation. (Exacerbating - making worse) [exacerbating - ig'za-su,bey-ting]

7. What are the "other masquerades" mentioned in the second stanza?

Ans.: - The "other masquerades" in the second stanza allude to the various mundane activities of the people. They are depicted engaging in seemingly purposeless actions such as walking with muddy feet to coffee stands and raising dinghy shades in their houses.

8. What are the "dinghy shades" mentioned in the 22^nd line?

Ans.: - The phrase "dinghy shades" in the poem describes the dirty window coverings that convey the grimy and polluted atmosphere of an industrial city.