Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
by T.S.Eliot
The poem was published in early 1920s which was a period of spiritual
uncertainty in Eliots life. A former Unitarian, who believed in the
existence of God as a solitary being thus rejecting the concept of holy
trinity as proclaimed by the church, Eliot conceded to the norms of the
church by converting to Catholicism around this time. In the poem we are
able to follow his mind as it reasons with the self to find a clearing in a fog
of uncertainty. He must have discovered his path unto god in Anglicanism
as in later years he identified himself to be an Anglo- Catholic.
The bewildering title of the poem evidences itself to be a symbol for an
object significant and inherent to the theme of the poem. The title has
been called bewildering keeping in mind the other recurring word in the
poem- church. The contrasts between the two are so vast that any
correlation between the two words becomes incomprehensible. Hence the
conclusion that the massive animal stands as a symbol for an entity that
can be recognized in association with the church. Further readings of the
poem indicate to the reader that the Hippopotamus carries many
possibilities of interpretation.
The poem begins with a brief description of the mud covered
Hippopotamus. Here the animal can be an illustration that stands for
Eliot who stands rooted in his former religious or spiritual beliefs. Eliot,
like the animal resting in the mire, reposes in his beliefs of a solitary god
which he later discovers to be false (leading to his conversion into
Catholicism). The giant Hippopotamus could also be a symbol for
instability.
Here the words shock and rock rhyme with each other, while also
representing meanings in context that are widely in contrast with each
other. The precision of the church whose faith is as firm as a rock is set
against a fumbling faith that is liable to suffer from shock. Similar
rhyming word pattern can be found in other instances in the poem. For
example, the solitary insignificant mango-tree set against the vast
overwhelming sea in the fourth stanza, the obvious triviality of the word
odd set against the word God in the fifth stanza.
The poet also uses the device of repetition in the poem. These repeated
words lend the effect of anaphora to the reader. The reader might notice
certain words such as true Church and words addressing the animal
such as potamus and hippo appear in several places in the poem.
The repetitions again, ensure that the juxtaposition between the Catholic
Church and other faiths that the poet is trying highlight is brought into
further notice. The vast expanse of dissimilarity in these two words
establishes the contrast furthermore.