The Hollow Men

E21793

The Hollow Men is a 1925 modernist poem by T. S. Eliot that explores themes of spiritual desolation, paralysis, and the fragmentation of modern life.

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Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf modernist poem
poem
author T. S. Eliot
containsAllusionTo Dante Alighieri
Guy Fawkes
Heart of Darkness
Inferno
Joseph Conrad
Purgatorio
The Gunpowder Plot
countryOfOrigin United Kingdom
famousLine Not with a bang but a whimper
This is the way the world ends
form fragmented lyric sequence
genre lyric poetry
hasPublicationType magazine publication
poetry collection reprint
imagery broken prayer
dryness and barrenness
scarecrows
shadows
influencedBy World War I
religious doubt
language English
literaryMovement Modernism
meter free verse
openingLine We are the hollow men
publicationYear 1925
refrain Not with a bang but a whimper
This is the way the world ends
relatedWork Gerontion
The Waste Land
structure five sections
subjectMatter hollowness of modern humanity
inability to act
spiritual crisis in the modern world
theme alienation
emptiness
existential despair
failure of communication
fragmentation of modern life
loss of faith
moral decay
paralysis
spiritual desolation
spiritual sterility
tone bleak
despairing
resigned

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

T. S. Eliot notableWork The Hollow Men