TS Eliot (3) - Gerontion

Leaving ‘Prufrock and Other Observations’ I thought I’d be leaving the largely Laforgue-inspired Vers Libre style much used there. This expectation was reinforced by reading that the influence on the second collection was more likely to be that of Théophile Gautier’s Emaux at Camées which Pound and Eliot had been reading. Gautier, a ‘Parnassian,’ favoured spare, disciplined quatrains so it was a surprise to encounter Gerontion at the beginning of the collection, a substantial and often marvellous poem that, nevertheless, seemed to stick to the Vers Libre style. 

Gerontion means ‘little old man’ and it could easily be said that the old man in question, who lives in a rooming house

I/ Stiffen in a rented house.

 (just as Philip Larkin’s Mr. Bleaney does) owned by a Jewish landlord, is a much older version of J. Alfred Prufrock. After a life of indecision this is where he has washed up geographically and, of course, morally. This is Eliot’s version of Symbolism. The economic relationship between the old man and the Jewish landlord seems significant as Eliot obviously considers being in such a relationship a demotion and, perhaps a humiliation.  The old man’s destiny is, formally, not in his own hands. He is at the mercy of others.

The hope of salvation comes in the form of a Spring-born Blakean Tyger and is frittered away, leaving only reflections on a multitude of lost chances. Now memories just give pain. He waits for the fate that has befallen other random members of society, the image of

White feathers in the snow  (which) the Gulf claims

making comment on this fate given the resonances of white feathers at the time of the First World War. 'The Gulf' is both a terrestrial geographical reference and the gaping maw of Hell. Once again we are in the presence of an ‘objective correlative’ for utter spiritual desolation.