There is no obvious reference to any human here except when the poet says “feet” and when someone comes out and lights the lamps in the evening as in the line “and then the lightening of the lamp”.
Part II IN this part the cityscape is portrayed as in appears in the morning. It seems as though the people were unconscious previously (through out the night). This, along with the smell of beer, which is mentioned in the line “the morning came to consciousness to faint stale smells of beer”, reinforces the idea that the people didn’t know what was happening to them and creates an unattractive image. Beer also shows that the people were untidy and unkept. We see that once again the poet has used smell imagery to show decay. The reference to the smells of steak and now beer are both unappealing. Notice the assonance in the words “faint” and “stale” which show decay. In this line the poet is also trying to tell us that the modern people are so restless that they have to consume things like beer to make them fall asleep.
The streets which are covered with saw dust and are not wholly clean. The words “trampled” and “press” as in the line “from the saw dust trampled street with all its muddy feet that press” show oppression. The foot steps are directed towards the coffee shops. The poet here is telling us how man has become so dependant on things he can get readily from outside. These are no traditional domestic ways left which would make the man brew his own coffee at home. Here we also see that these people are laborers as they have to get up early in the morning and rush out.
In the next line “with the other masquerades that time resumes” we see how modern man has to change his face and attitude according to the occasion. Then in the next lines “…of all the hands that are raising dingy shades in a thousand furnished rooms” we see how every one is raising the curtains together. This image is very powerful because it portrays the monotonous routine that everyone follows in today’s world as though are programmed. Modern life is ruled by a common rule and the very existence of man is monotonous. He doesn’t live but exists. In this part we see how there still isn’t any direct reference of a human being except for the “feet” and “hands”.
Part III in the first two parts we see that the poet was not a part of the scene. There seemed to be a distance between the poet and the subject. But in the third part he takes a step closer to his subject and addresses it directly.
This part portrays a modern women which we know because of the reference to her hair as in the line “you curled the papers from your hair”. Eliot presents the modern world as a place filled with corruption and immorality through this women who herself proves to be a victim of the same. The woman has “soiled hands”. The poet probably says this to indicate the sins that she has committed. A woman who is the embodiment of kindness, love, care and motherhood is now filled with immorality as all the goodness has been striped off of her. There are many indications of her character in this part.
In the first line which is “you tossed a blanket from the bed”, the poet shows how modern people are restless and unable to sleep peacefully. In the next line we see that she is literally waiting for something to happen. The word “dozed” in the line “you dozed, and watched the night revealing” once again suggests that she only had a short and not deep sleep. The word “sordid” as in the line “the thousand sordid images of which your soul was constituted” suggests ugliness and moral corruption. Her soul has become a part of the sordidness in which she takes part. Images of decay flicker against the ceiling, occurring again and again. The world comes back in the morning the way it has been described in the previous part. The word “crept” as in the line “and the light crept up between the shutters” tells us that even the sun’s rays enter her room unwillingly because of her sordidness. The image of the room being dimly lit by the sun’s rays portrays a pathetic condition of the modern world in which even nature is affected and reduced to such a level and have to live in such a way as described in the line “and you heard the sparrows in the gutters”. Being part of the blackness of the society, she’s the only one who knows what goes on in the streets and has the best knowledge of the corruption only because she’ s a victim of it and moral decay as mentioned earlier. The women sits on the “edge” of the bed as in the line “sitting along the bed’s edge where you curled the papers from your hair”. This suggests a sense of restlessness and insecurity. Out of nervousness she begins curling the papers from her hair which shows us that she is one who is taken up by her appearance. From the outside (her physical appearance), she looks and seems rather very good but from the inside she’s ugly and corrupted. The words “yellow soles of feet” the poet uses color imagery to show decay. "Yellow feet" sounds like some sort of disease. What the poet is saying is that she’s afflicted by a disease but one of immorality. Soiled hands also show moral corruption.
Part IV THIS part portrays a modern man as mentioned before. His soul is described as restricted as the sky in the city where you can only see the part right above you and not the horizon. His soul is not in an infinite and a “free” form but seems to be limited. This shows that life in the modern world has so many limitations that even the soul isn’t free. He cannot do as he pleases and has to follow the monotonous routine which has been described in the second that is common to every single person. The soul of a modern man is oppressed by this very routine. The word “trampled” suggests the routine of a life that’s ruled and measured in time.
Every evening the man does the same things; he smokes pipes and then reads the evening newspaper. The word “stuff” in the line “and short square fingers stuffing pipes and evening newspapers” suggests oppression.
The man’s eyes are limited in confidence as in the line “and eyes assured of certain certainties”. He knows some things but not all. His fingers are described as “short and square” and show that he is a laborer who does work manually. It also shows that the work he does is inartistic and that his life is filled with drudgeries. This line also shows how the modern life lacks art and creativity.
In the next lines the poet associates him with immorality. The man seems to be trying to pass his time as he waits for night to fall. This is so that he may be able to take part in the immorality of the street. His conscience is filled with impatience as he waits for the evening to go away.
Through out the poem the poet only mentions parts of the human body and never the whole being to show their presence. He does this to show the modern man as being dismembered in parts and not a whole or complete person.
In the last two paragraphs of the poem the poet, using the pronoun “I”, confides and acknowledges that he ahs been affected and moved by these pictures to such an extent that he was inspired to write about them as in the line “I am moved by the fancies that curl around these pictures and cling; the notion of some infinitely gently infinitely suffering thing”. He doesn’t judge but just looks at modern people as victims and says that they should be sympathized because they are suffering and decaying and are godless, having no spiritual or moral value.
But the last stanza shows contrast. He takes a step backward and takes back what he said. He doesn’t want to get involved and draws himself to his earlier stand of objection.
He says that though man is suffering because of his godless ways but that has not stopped or affected the rest of the universe. The world hasn’t stopped revolving around the sun; all the planets continue to move in their orbits.
So we see that whether man suffers or not, nothing is going to change cosmically. The poet uses a puzzling simile in the line “the world revolves like ancient women gathering fuel in vacant lots”. This last line takes us back to the beginning of the poem where “vacant lots” were first mentioned. The poet is saying that there is a chance of light, improvement in the life of a modern man. Even though man has no spiritual value, he will continue to survive just like ancient women who look for fuel in empty places {in vacant lots} where there is nothing to be found. Fuel, which is essential for life, can hardly be found in vacant lots. Earth itself is old and ancient like these women and just as the earth doesn’t stop revolving, the human will to survive is definite and they will do anything to live. And so according to the poet there is a ray of home left which we see in the line “and the light crept up between the shutters” where “light” is hope.
Structure and tone: there are four parts in this poem. The first two show the cityscape in the evening and then in the morning from an objective angle of vision. In the third part the poet goes closer to the subject and describes the sordid life of a modern woman and in the fourth part he describes a modern man. Modern man is described as being a slave to the routine of life and at the same time he is linked to the evils present in the world. The woman has a life which is full of immorality and corruption. Eliot says that he has been inspired to write about these images and looks at modern man as victim of infinite pain and suffering. Life has reduced man to the level of an object.
Conclusion; Eliot goes back to his earlier stand of objection. The last line of the poem is a link to the beginning of the poem where the poet establishes two main images which are of decay and oppression . The ancient women find decayed and withered leaves and newspaper which serve as fuel. The ancient women represent the human will to survive. The poet introduces the montage technique in this poem.
The poem has a melancholic, sober and uninviting tone.