1. Preludes
T.S. Eliot

2. #1
The sights of “withered leaves,” “a lonely cab horse,” and the “lighting of the lamps”; the sound of showers beating on “broken blinds”; the smell of “steaks in passageways” evoke a mood of desolation

3. #2
The images of beer, a street imprinted with sawdust footprints, and hands raising shades in furnished rooms are all isolated and grim

4. #3
She sees sordid images reflected from her soul, suggesting that her life is lonely and unhappy

5. #4
He is moved by the fancies that cling to images of souls in solitude
All humans are suffering in their solitude

6. #5 He compares it to ancient women gathering fuel in vacant lots
The simile suggests people in lonely orbits, moving together but entirely cut off from contact

7. #6 Prelude 1 is set in the evening
Preludes 2 and 3 take place in the morning and night
The passage of time is as isolating and lonely as the “revolving of worlds”

8. The Hollow Men
T.S. Eliot

9. #8
The hollow men are stuffed with straw, and are dry, quiet, colorless, and paralyzed, suggesting that their lives are without meaning and form

10. #9
The souls in death’s dream kingdom see sunlight and trees and hear the wind singing
Unlike the hollow men, they are able to experience beauty in sight and sound

11. #10
The hollow men live in an arid, desertlike landscape and worship stone images
The lack of color in their land and the lack of meaning in their worship help explain their hollowness

12. #11
Their only hope is the “multifoliate rose” (the chance of spiritual rebirth)
They have little chance of realizing this hope, however, for their world will end “not with a bang but with a whimper”

13. #12
The Shadow symbolizes death (the valley of the shadow of death) or the fear of death the hollow men feel
Their fear prevents them from experiencing life

14. #13
The hollow men are unable to complete the prayer; they cannot achieve true belief