The Hollow Men

The Hollow Men

By T. S. Eliot

Mistah Kurtz‑he dead
A penny for the Old Guy

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 meeting place
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.

What the Poem Says

Eliot’s poem is a meditation on emptiness and the failure to act. The speaker describes a group of people who are “hollow” – they have no substance, no purpose, and no connection with one another or with the world around them. They wander in a barren landscape that feels like death itself. The repeated refrain “This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper” reminds us that life can end quietly and unnoticed rather than dramatically.

Key Parts of the Poem

1. The opening stanza introduces the hollow men. The image of “headpiece filled with straw” suggests a mask, a false appearance that hides nothing inside.
2. Stanza II uses dream imagery to show how the men cannot see each other’s true selves. Light on a broken column and a swinging tree are symbols of fleeting hope that never fully materialises.
3. Stanzas III–V move through increasingly bleak scenes – dead land, a valley of dying stars, a beach of a tumid river – each deepening the sense of isolation. The repeated “prickly pear” in stanza V feels like a ritual that offers no comfort.
4. The final refrain is the poem’s most famous line. It captures the central message: life ends quietly, without the grand gestures we expect.

How Literary Devices Build the Message

• Repetition – The phrase “This is the way the world ends” appears three times, making it a mantra that the hollow men cannot escape. Repeating “prickly pear” in stanza V gives the poem a circular rhythm that mirrors their endless wandering.
• Imagery – Eliot paints scenes of dry grass, broken glass, and dying stars. These images create a landscape that feels lifeless, echoing the inner emptiness of the characters.
• Metaphor – “Shape without form” and “shade without colour” compare the men to empty shells. The metaphor extends to the world itself, which is described as a dead land or cactus land.
• Allusion – The opening line references Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, hinting that moral darkness has spread into everyday life. This allusion deepens the sense that the hollow men are products of a world that has lost its way.
• Personification – Voices “in the wind’s singing” give human qualities to the wind, suggesting that even nature is silent and indifferent.
• Assonance and alliteration – Repeated vowel sounds in lines such as “In death’s dream kingdom” create a musical quality that contrasts with the poem’s bleak content. This musicality keeps readers engaged while underscoring the emptiness of the words spoken.

Why the Poem Matters for Young Readers

The poem invites us to think about what it means to be alive and connected. It shows that when we lose purpose or fail to act, life can feel quiet and unremarkable. By studying its language and structure, students learn how a poet uses simple words to build complex ideas. The poem also encourages discussion about hope, responsibility, and the importance of speaking up.

Remembering the Final Line

This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

When you read this line, think about moments when expectations were high but the outcome was gentle or even disappointing. The poem reminds us that endings can be subtle and that we must pay attention to the quiet moments in life.