The reading of the final line surprised me yet I loved it. Life ends quickly, suddenly and harshly. He conveys all that in his reading of that final line, panicked pacing and then silence as our world ends.
I think that is part of the beauty of the poem. The last few lines build up a tension that is never resolved, the "bang" never comes and all that we're left with is the whimpering scratches of a finished tape recording.
It's as originally intended by the author, so much onus has been put on the end of this prose, The way he recites it is like the wave of a hand, indicating he is done with such nonsense/things of import he cannot change. It's a truly terrifying and beautiful piece.
@@Konrad_Wallenrod Well, the piano was added by the uploader. You can find the version with Irons' voice alone on Audible and elsewhere away from CZcams.
I We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning together Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! Our dried voices, when We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless As wind in dry grass Or rats' feet over broken glass In our dry cellar Shape without form, shade without colour, Paralysed force, gesture without motion; Those who have crossed With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom Remember us-if at all-not as lost Violent souls, but only As the hollow men The stuffed men. II Eyes I dare not meet in dreams In death's dream kingdom These do not appear: There, the eyes are Sunlight on a broken column There, is a tree swinging And voices are In the wind's singing More distant and more solemn Than a fading star. Let me be no nearer In death's dream kingdom Let me also wear Such deliberate disguises Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves In a field Behaving as the wind behaves No nearer- Not that final meeting In the twilight kingdom III This is the dead land This is cactus land Here the stone images Are raised, here they receive The supplication of a dead man's hand Under the twinkle of a fading star. Is it like this In death's other kingdom Waking alone At the hour when we are Trembling with tenderness Lips that would kiss Form prayers to broken stone. IV 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 In this last of meeting places We grope together And avoid speech Gathered on this beach of the tumid river Sightless, unless The eyes reappear As the perpetual star Multifoliate rose Of death's twilight kingdom The hope only Of empty men. V Here we go round the prickly pear Prickly pear prickly pear Here we go round the prickly pear At five o'clock in the morning. Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow For Thine is the Kingdom Between the conception And the creation Between the emotion And the response Falls the Shadow Life is very long Between the desire And the spasm Between the potency And the existence Between the essence And the descent Falls the Shadow For Thine is the Kingdom For Thine is Life is For Thine is the This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper.
Since it's the most famous bit, people tend to put EXTRA-DRAMATIC...EMPHASIS....ON THOSE. WORDS. But Elliot mumbles past them because that's exactly what it is; a whimper.
the hasty delivery of the crown jewel of the poem, the resolution of the suspense, is so in line with the words... he ends the poem with almost with a running page and a fade out. there is no care.
Memorized this poem once for a recital at school but this is so cool to hear T.S. himself read it. My rhythm very close to his but dang my end much slower and somber. Thank you for posting this!
Wonderful! I'm coming back to Eliot after some 36 years. I liked The Hollow Men when I first read it but my English teachers' interpretation of it put me off. I saw A.N. Wilsons' documentary on BBC 4 recently and the sound of Eliots' voice was a revelation. I'm not a poetry follower, I like Phillip Larkin, John Betjeman and a few other bits and pieces but The Hollow Men is now my number one favourite poem. For me it articulates my feelings of existential despair beautifully.
Last few seconds, ' This is the way the world ends . This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.' = new cell ringer
I like how eliots poetry takes you on a spiritual journey. Stuff like prufrock is the listless, aimless wandering of youth and juvenile scepticism. This and the waste land show that scepticism and lack of direction evolving into an all encompassing terror and disease. Finally ash wednesday and four quartets bring us to a kind of religious resignation and hope.
And this proves that all poetic interpretation is subjective, and so every poetic interpretation is choice and guesswork--- not knowable the way every English teacher I ever had suggested, reading this slowly and morrosely. Not contemplatively as he does. And those last lines-- read always so slowly every time I've heard it and group-analyzed why in every English class, he zoomed through 🤣 Thanks for this recording.
Wow. I like the interpretation about war on another post. This reading though points the interpretation as heroine addition. Too bad nobody made a video showing contemporary pictures of our lost hollow men on the streets.
If I wasn't delated from FB and without real life freinds I'd post this somewhere. I feel like I am alone, only on an island with my wife and child watching the apocalypse, as people seem replaced or to have vanished and only vapid can be seen but still in dwindalong number. What's next down the road I don't know, I dont even knowing I would have anyone to make the remark to
We are born hollow, we stuff ourselves by clinging to entities and delusions that will be gone with death, in the end we are empty. We are never full as in (full)filled, just stuffed, might as well be hollow.
Maybe unpopular opinion, but imo this poem can be read better / performed better than the way TSE did himself. It's nice to hear his own rendition, regardless.
@Y T I noticed that instead of providing a perspective that may help someone enjoy the piece and create dialog. You just take a pretentious stance that could turn people away. Just something to think about for the future.
@Y T Here's the thing, I never claimed that what you had said was right or wrong. I called you out for being pretentious, and you responded by doubling down. So I thank you sir for proving me correct. With that I'll restate my previous comment in a way that I hope helps. If you feel that you have more knowledge on a subject, you should present that knowledge in a way that doesn't draw attention to yourself. Instead your knowledge should enhance the original subject.
I don't know what university experience you've had, but I did a module in modernism for my minor in English. The first text we studied was The Wasteland, the second text was Tradition And The Individual Talent. After covering Eliot, the lecturers connected every other writer we covered to him.
The reading of the final line surprised me yet I loved it. Life ends quickly, suddenly and harshly. He conveys all that in his reading of that final line, panicked pacing and then silence as our world ends.
Never expected the last lines to be read that quickly
I think that is part of the beauty of the poem. The last few lines build up a tension that is never resolved, the "bang" never comes and all that we're left with is the whimpering scratches of a finished tape recording.
It's as originally intended by the author, so much onus has been put on the end of this prose, The way he recites it is like the wave of a hand, indicating he is done with such nonsense/things of import he cannot change. It's a truly terrifying and beautiful piece.
I know. It felt more like a whimper than a bang.
The rapid culmination of the end is the actual beauty of the entire poem.
Thank you! It’s wonderful to hear the intention of the author.
Thank you SO MUCH for not ruining it with some inappropriate ''dramatic'' music!
I agree Konrad. I listened to Jeremy Irons reading it and the piano noise simply got in the way.
@@MrGottmusik
I know! What is the point of hiring a famous actor with an awesome voice when you end up ruining it with pointless music!
@@Konrad_Wallenrod Well, the piano was added by the uploader. You can find the version with Irons' voice alone on Audible and elsewhere away from CZcams.
o.o
@@GreatWonderMoose : Thanks for pointing this out.
I
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar
Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;
Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
Remember us-if at all-not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.
II
Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death's dream kingdom
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind's singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.
Let me be no nearer
In death's dream kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer-
Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom
III
This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man's hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.
Is it like this
In death's other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.
IV
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
In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river
Sightless, unless
The eyes reappear
As the perpetual star
Multifoliate rose
Of death's twilight kingdom
The hope only
Of empty men.
V
Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long
Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
Thanks for posting the text
Wow -- I did not expect that reading of the final lines.
Since it's the most famous bit, people tend to put EXTRA-DRAMATIC...EMPHASIS....ON THOSE. WORDS. But Elliot mumbles past them because that's exactly what it is; a whimper.
Yeah, he went sing-song with it, an echo of the "prickly pear" children's song. The end isn't even a whimper. It's an absurd school rhyme.
That ending is very appropriate and I do wish that more people who perform readings of The Hollow Men would listen to this reading and heed it.
Yes. Posted on FB
Shout out to the guy who coughs at 2:01
So glad I heard it read in Eliots voice and it brings so much context and emotion
This is the most "Dark Souls" poem I've heard till now !
Incredible piece of art
Meditate on the last verses...
Omg when I was at grammar school our music master, a madman, wrote music to his poem and we sang it......
Sounds fun
A pure unadorned recording! Thank you Thank You thank YOU!
My favorite poem of all time. Every time I read it, every time I listen to Eliots reading, I get goose bumps and my skin crawls. I just LOVE IT !!!!
Kimberly Sikorski. I know! I can’t shake these images,,
Eliot has such a solemn voice. He reads perfectly - I can’t begin to imagine what his mind was like …
This is the way the world ends...
Can you explain what it means?
AND WE'VE ONLY BECOME MORE HOLLOW WITH EACH AND EVERY DAY THAT HAS PASSED SINCE.
My English teacher gave me a book of T.S Eliot Selected Poem and this is my favourite poem.
the hasty delivery of the crown jewel of the poem, the resolution of the suspense, is so in line with the words... he ends the poem with almost with a running page and a fade out. there is no care.
I feel like I want this read by my children at my funeral.
that’s depressing..
hes out there man...he's really out there
A miraculously musical reading by the man himself. Very impressive.
Greetings from Brazil! I was at Russel Square looking for this.
a
❤️👍🏼
This is one of the strengths of the Internet. T S sounds exactly like I thought he would. Very Boris Karloff - ish 😱🤣😂
Lovely!
Amazing to think he was born in Missouri.
the oration and delivery is powerful.
Memorized this poem once for a recital at school but this is so cool to hear T.S. himself read it. My rhythm very close to his but dang my end much slower and somber. Thank you for posting this!
Rest in Peace Norm MacDonald. ❤️
Did norm like this poem?
2:56 - best part
Wonderful! I'm coming back to Eliot after some 36 years. I liked The Hollow Men when I first read it but my English teachers' interpretation of it put me off. I saw A.N. Wilsons' documentary on BBC 4 recently and the sound of Eliots' voice was a revelation. I'm not a poetry follower, I like Phillip Larkin, John Betjeman and a few other bits and pieces but The Hollow Men is now my number one favourite poem. For me it articulates my feelings of existential despair beautifully.
In my early 20's, I was obsessed with poetry, Rimbaud, Eliot, Baudelaire...now I watch Netflix and drink tea
You’re now hollow.
@@3rdcoastnyucka I agree, unfortunately
I read for much of the night, and go south in the winter
A Divine Work
Last few seconds, ' This is the way the world ends
. This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.' = new cell ringer
One of my favourite types: an American who became British.
No prophet is received in his own home. GO ELIOT!
Who else is here for Jamie of "the sinner"?
I like how eliots poetry takes you on a spiritual journey. Stuff like prufrock is the listless, aimless wandering of youth and juvenile scepticism. This and the waste land show that scepticism and lack of direction evolving into an all encompassing terror and disease. Finally ash wednesday and four quartets bring us to a kind of religious resignation and hope.
The decline of the British Empire: "a valley of dying stars"
Yes
Incredible. Even today
The stuffed men lead us to destruction.
The Sinner Season 3 brought me here
❤
I haven't actually had any interest in poetry, but I am getting a feeling I need to read more to understand this one.
I want to here Mr. T read this....
Heavy stuff!
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but with a cough
in ways you might not expect
So eerie, like a stand up show by a clearly depressed person. Kinda reminds me of the final scene in The Wicker Man.
Figueira brava
Im sorry but the last lines were hilarious 😂 I didn’t expect him to read them that fast
Every time I read that last stanza, I imagine it in the voice of a parrot.
And this proves that all poetic interpretation is subjective, and so every poetic interpretation is choice and guesswork--- not knowable the way every English teacher I ever had suggested, reading this slowly and morrosely. Not contemplatively as he does. And those last lines-- read always so slowly every time I've heard it and group-analyzed why in every English class, he zoomed through 🤣 Thanks for this recording.
Visceral
You don’t have to be hollow if you just farm more humanity.
Brando was brilliant reading it as Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. !
johnny marlin and then the photo journalist Dennis Hopper finishes it. Epic movie scene.
@@everydayjoe649 Agreed. "His out there man his really out there ",
Brando in Apocalypse Now?
Overpaid mumbling fat bastard.
@@bingola45 Far from *hollow*
@@stephenmcewan2460 Stuffed, maybe...
Marlon Brando did a good job in Apocalypse Now with this post- WWI thoughts of despair.
Though he was (famously) *far* from being hollow, at the time.
Wow. I like the interpretation about war on another post. This reading though points the interpretation as heroine addition. Too bad nobody made a video showing contemporary pictures of our lost hollow men on the streets.
He is literally me
If I wasn't delated from FB and without real life freinds I'd post this somewhere.
I feel like I am alone, only on an island with my wife and child watching the apocalypse, as people seem replaced or to have vanished and only vapid can be seen but still in dwindalong number.
What's next down the road I don't know, I dont even knowing I would have anyone to make the remark to
I think most of you have it wrong. We are all hollow men trying to fill ourselves with meaning. Alas, we are still hollow men.
You know admitting you have a problem is the first step
Have you any ‘video’ of T. S. Eliot's recitation of his poems?
I am not aware that any exist.
Hollow men = Tin Woodman
Stuffed men = Scarecrow
We are born hollow, we stuff ourselves by clinging to entities and delusions that will be gone with death, in the end we are empty. We are never full as in (full)filled, just stuffed, might as well be hollow.
“Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o’clock in the morning “
love this part
This poem must have inspired Dark Souls series.
"This is the way the world ends, not with a band but with a whimper". A moment of silence for all those dieing and dead of Corona virus.
eliot's voice is dry and heavy which is quite suitable fo this verse
Krautrock's Faust 'We Are The Hallo Men' : czcams.com/video/0YaHMgI1KXA/video.html
this is so terrifying !
who is else is here because of halo 3 :ODST?
I’ve been looking for you
@@jjklliop for me?
@@twistedlvl50 For someone else who came here after Halo 3: ODST
@@jjklliop secret glyph project
@@twistedlvl50 YES
Maybe unpopular opinion, but imo this poem can be read better / performed better than the way TSE did himself. It's nice to hear his own rendition, regardless.
Valéry is your friend
All I could hear was the scratching in the background.
You missed a good poem.
Dark stuff.
APOCALYPSE NOW
So he’s basically saying we’re scarecrows, right?
Straw men.
@@carolebarker2195 yeah. That’s what I mean. Scarecrows.
@Y T I noticed that instead of providing a perspective that may help someone enjoy the piece and create dialog. You just take a pretentious stance that could turn people away. Just something to think about for the future.
@Y T Here's the thing, I never claimed that what you had said was right or wrong. I called you out for being pretentious, and you responded by doubling down. So I thank you sir for proving me correct. With that I'll restate my previous comment in a way that I hope helps.
If you feel that you have more knowledge on a subject, you should present that knowledge in a way that doesn't draw attention to yourself. Instead your knowledge should enhance the original subject.
@Y T pretentious
Not with a bang but with a whimper ☹️
We need a poet about the Full Women, for it is not just men who follow . . ., and lead, but women who have the freedom to lead us down a fuller path.
Sounds like you could very well be 'that' poet. :)
Yes,all those women leaders in the world today, leading us down a path full of bulls…t!
the horror, the horror...
Why he sounds so scary
The poet is often not the best to recite their work. This is a prime example. I felt this was an often lifeless recitation.
Marlon Brando read it better.
He sounds annoyed
T.S. Eliot is expelled from modern liberal universities.
I don't know what university experience you've had, but I did a module in modernism for my minor in English. The first text we studied was The Wasteland, the second text was Tradition And The Individual Talent. After covering Eliot, the lecturers connected every other writer we covered to him.
I read him in high school and at the university. Of course that was in the late 80's.
I’m reading him, I’m a senior in high school. It’s shocking how many generations words can carry.
@Y T greatest book ever written
I read Prufrock in English class my junior year of high school and there's a good chance I would not have gotten into poetry had that not happened.
that is crap, just admit it