"The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot (poetry reading)

[MultiAncafe]

can you give me download link or upload a video link ?I wana show this poem to my teacher

[SpokenVerse]

@MultiAncafe There are free programs to download video or audio files from YouTube. But I expect your teacher has a computer and knows this poem, it's very famous.

[MultiAncafe]

@SpokenVerse teacher already knows I want to show it at class!Maybe my friends will hear an awesome poem !

thank you

[SpokenVerse]

@MultiAncafe You can download it to an iPod, phone or whatever you're got. Just google for YouTube converter.

[1984jimmyjet]

Hi Tom, I hope you dont mind but Ive used your reading in my uni animation, its a great reading and I think my animation suits it quite well please check it out I'd love to hear your thoughts perhaps I can animate some more of your readings in future If you don't mind. Thank you.

[jkt3sc]

this poem is more relevant now then ever

[MultiAncafe]

T.S eliot is AWESOME symbollist poet.You can feel the emotion with your heart

[basketcase5295]

Was assigned this poem yesterday- knew you'd have it up on your account. You never cease to please with me your readings. Greatest channel ever.

[ndlelantle]

what a nice way to learn for my setwork exam :-D love this poem!!!

[Alexhasgoneinsane]

This is one of my favorite poems ever. I love the raspy voice for this reading. It fits the mood so well.

[bullmoosevx]

Brilliant

[gooseberryjaml]

Whoever's reading this... I love your voice! I could listen to this poem over and over... It puts me in a sort of trance. I don't think anyone could have captured the tone and meaning of this poem better than you.

[gooseberryjaml]

Whoever's reading this... I love your voice! I could listen to this poem over and over... It puts me in a sort of trance. I don't think anyone could have captured the tone and meaning of this poem more than you.

[vichiousfishes]

@whatitischief I take it as that part he is struggling to hold on to "death's other kingdom" the real world as he has known it. But suddenly gives up mid sentence and realizes the truth. Thine is the...:

The whole thing is very existentialist. It's about that truth about life that might be incongruant with the human condition. We live and die, so what? So the fact he kind of comes to a realization mid sentence always made sense to me.

[geoffck6969]

Whenever I'm in the doldrums, when the sun is shining, the laughter of children fills the air, folks are enjoying life, the neighbors bbq'ing, I blacken my windows, find solitude and I listen to this and all becomes well with my world once again. LOL!! But seriously, this is an excellent reading that captures the essence of this literary work in an uncanny fashion. Just excellent!

[theNewCruelty]

Outstanding reading. I've enjoyed listening several times now.

[thestreetsempty]

Ah, I knew I recognized your voice. This is one of my favorite poems ever, and your reading is by far the best. Possibly my favorite reading. You, sir, are quite something.

[kenruneck]

This poem is haunting.

[FJPrufrock]

J'ai étudié Eliot au lycée pendant tout un semestre.. c'est mon meilleur souvenir du cours de littérature !

Sa poésie est magique et ici la lecture est très réussie.

Je lis mes propres textes sur ma chaîne, vous êtes invités à les voir ! Dites moi ce que vous en pensez.

[rozniy]

"There are no eyes here."

*shiver*

[herodotus53]

SpokenVerse, thank you for this thoughtful and engaging recitation. Your interpretation of the final stanza was particularly arresting.. I have already listened to your Hart Crane videos, and your Eliot readings continue to draw me into the web of the poet's imagination. Please keep at it!

[lilacandironpen]

That was moving. A beautiful and haunting rendition.

[manhunt0r]

thank you very much.

[langstonify]

Splendid reading. Thanks you.

[zossimov]

great reading. especially the final lines. i love the variety of interpretations.

[HufflepuffTheGreat]

This is an excellent reading of one of my favorite poems ever. If T.S. Eliot could hear this being read he would definitely approve. Well done!

[BSFBOPE]

a truly eerie poem...gives me chills. eliot was probably the best poet of the 20th century

[slayerdart]

the last stanza gives me chill to the bones.. for some reason.. >.<

[pirateprincess2149]

@slayerdart i find part V with the nursery rhyme weaved within it to give it an entirely eerie air... the last stanza especially

[AQWoy]

I'm 13, I never thought I'd be into poetry, until I heard this...

[mkzhero]

This is the way the world ends not with a bang but with a whimper.. Such strong words...

[isarte2007]

if you are already dead inside, a physical death completes the end of your world and life... the last line made me think of death by murder = bang vs by illness = whimper.

[jokerclownscar]

best ever

[Kunoichisforever]

Ooh, this poem is one of the few that actually gives me chills! Good ol' TS Eliot C:

[MrRichBiker]

what an errey voice-perfect for this poem!!!

[vektorblue]

yeah!

[HufflepuffTheGreat]

The best poem ever.

[bummercucumber]

Your reading is the greatest I've heard.

[Sherpafry]

@SpokenVerse Best reading on the Youtube, welldone.

[nopshere]

Did T.S Elliot recite this himself?

If so, the reader is amazing!

[ClaireLovesCritters]

This is was just so profound.. I don't think any poem recital has ever effected me quite so much, I think this poem has lots of meanings to lots of people. For me it's the transition from life to death and the ultimate destruction of the planet. But thats just me. Absolutely amazing reading, thank you Sir!.

[rise54321]

Interesting side note:TS Eliot was infamous for his consistent censorship of George Orwell's reporting, especially when it came to Orwell's reporting on the American military. Eliot believed showing the US in any negative light, whether true or not was enough reason for him as an editor to squash many of the writings put forth by Orwell coming from the war.

[GDATERRY]

The way you did the last three lines...sounded almost defeated and withdrawn. I loved it. sent shivers down my spine :)

[2bsbc]

I appreciate the meter you use in your reading of this piece. I especially like your delivery of the last stanza. I never imagined it read it that manner. Powerful.

[seattletaytay]

@2bsbc It's the best part. I lost it. "This is the way the world ends..."

[beakerx3]

Once again, thank you for doing a reading of a poem that I picked to research for class, so I can bring it into class. You do a remarkable job of capturing the mood.

[GoingToWar]

i think he is talking about himself and how he never compleated any thing he wanted in life he was in the constant state of being the shadow but never geting to the point of geting what he wanted.

[MsTilscher]

As an 18 year old Elliot's poetry simply touched me... I did not know why, I just 'saw' the stuff and knew it was good. Thank God no one told my younger, niave self to 'cut my tongue out; ... since growing I have an MA BA and a teaching degree. One thing I know, intellect should not shut you out from poetry... 'On Margate sands I can connect nothing with nothing' Construct your meaning and response and return again and again. Trust no one x

[Thinkify1]

I just saw something odd. If you go to passage V,he says, here we go round the prikly pear". There was a song we used to sing long ago. It has three lines as well. It goes " here we go round the mulberry bush". Very similar to one another, I have to say that Eliots poetry did shape this country to a degree, at-least enough to have a piece of his work incorporated in our shared western upbringing.

[SpokenVerse]

That's only one of many such references - quotations and snippets from other sources characterise Eliot's work. There are references to the Gunpowder Plot, The Divine Comedy, Julius Caesar, and Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

The film "Apocalypse Now" was taken from "Heart of Darkness" and in it Marlon Brando recites this poem.

[lewiszim]

@SpokenVerse there is also a reference to Dante's inferno

[whythewar1]

@SpokenVerse This is the first time listening to a poem you read, I actually, swelled up and let a tear.

[ReApErChilLS79]

@Thinkify1 That 'Prickly pear' line is saying how children will go around the prickly pear, not the mulberry bush. The mulberry bush represents fertility, the prickly pear represents infertility. What this line is saying is how, the children do not want to be born into such a world, filled with war and such. So they go around the prickly pear, not the mulberry bush. It is a reference to the mulberry nursery rhyme. I know this because this year in my 9th grade English class we analyzed this poem.

[MoneyMoss4ever]

@Thinkify1 it's the other way around buddy. We're studying this poem in my AP Lit class.

[superangora]

ive been meaning to look for a good poem to read and let sit in my heart and i fel this is the one true remarkable the raw voice is a really nice touch

[mrnosaj]

I went to work earlier in the night, and your voice kept repeating in my head.  I'm subscribing to you.

[OhWorldOfWonder]

I could be lulled to sleep my your voice, surly. A lovely poem.

I will listen to this for the new few hours.

Thank you.

[barakvesh]

Flashing the image of the hollow men again at the end was very effective.

[krvillanueva]

the last line of this poem, together with your voice made me feel T.S Eliot's meaning in an amazngly painful, beautiful, honest way. thank you. thank you. thank you

[Oscar301]

Beautiful reading, thanks. You have a very rich voice - a fine blend of raw knowing and subtly growling despair. Bet you could do a Hamlet soliloquy serious justice...

[dingtonia]

Listening to this has been an incredible experience. Thank you thank you.

[bezboznik84]

My favourite poem. Thank you.

[carlo88moe]

great reading, really. pronounciation and tempo compliment each word and mood so dearly. i'd like to think of the reading in eliot's head, on its conception, as a very close relative to this version.

thankyou, dont stop.

[sonever1]

Somber but excellent. This reader/presenter is first rate; I've now listened to a few of these clips he's presented, and they're all great. Not just a cool voice that delivers the weight of the verse, but great timing and emphasis that helps convey the meaning.

[wubbadubdub]

Awesome!

[zombiekiller60]

Great Job!!!!

[somor98]

Ummmm, me likes!!!

[bellrope]

Powerful stuff and very well read. Thank you.