“The Hollow Men” is a poem by the American modernist poet T.S. Eliot, first published in 1925. Uncanny and dream-like, “The Hollow Men” describes a desolate world, populated by empty, defeated people. Though the speaker describes these people as “dead” and the world they inhabit as the underworld (“death’s twilight kingdom”), the poem shouldn’t be read simply as a description of life after death. It's also a reflection on the sorry state of European culture after the First World War. For the speaker of the poem, the horrors of the war have plunged Europe into deep despair—so deep that European culture itself is fading away into nothingness.
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The Full Text of “The Hollow Men”
Mistah Kurtz-he dead
A penny for the Old Guy
I
1We are the hollow men
2We are the stuffed men
3Leaning together
4Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
5Our dried voices, when
6We whisper together
7Are quiet and meaningless
8As wind in dry grass
9Or rats' feet over broken glass
10In our dry cellar
11Shape without form, shade without colour,
12Paralysed force, gesture without motion;
13Those who have crossed
14With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
15Remember us-if at all-not as lost
16Violent souls, but only
17As the hollow men
18The stuffed men.
II
19Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
20In death's dream kingdom
21These do not appear:
22There, the eyes are
23Sunlight on a broken column
24There, is a tree swinging
25And voices are
26In the wind's singing
27More distant and more solemn
28Than a fading star.
29Let me be no nearer
30In death's dream kingdom
31Let me also wear
32Such deliberate disguises
33Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves
34In a field
35Behaving as the wind behaves
36No nearer-
37Not that final meeting
38In the twilight kingdom
III
39This is the dead land
40This is cactus land
41Here the stone images
42Are raised, here they receive
43The supplication of a dead man's hand
44Under the twinkle of a fading star.
45Is it like this
46In death's other kingdom
47Waking alone
48At the hour when we are
49Trembling with tenderness
50Lips that would kiss
51Form prayers to broken stone.
IV
52The eyes are not here
53There are no eyes here
54In this valley of dying stars
55In this hollow valley
56This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms
57In this last of meeting places
58We grope together
59And avoid speech
60Gathered on this beach of the tumid river
61Sightless, unless
62The eyes reappear
63As the perpetual star
64Multifoliate rose
65Of death's twilight kingdom
66The hope only
67Of empty men.
V
68Here we go round the prickly pear
69Prickly pear prickly pear
70Here we go round the prickly pear
71At five o'clock in the morning.
72Between the idea
73And the reality
74Between the motion
75And the act
76Falls the Shadow
77 For Thine is the Kingdom
78Between the conception
79And the creation
80Between the emotion
81And the response
82Falls the Shadow
83 Life is very long
84Between the desire
85And the spasm
86Between the potency
87And the existence
88Between the essence
89And the descent
90Falls the Shadow
91 For Thine is the Kingdom
92For Thine is
93Life is
94For Thine is the
95This is the way the world ends
96This is the way the world ends
97This is the way the world ends
98Not with a bang but a whimper.
The Full Text of “The Hollow Men”
Mistah Kurtz-he dead
A penny for the Old Guy
I
1We are the hollow men
2We are the stuffed men
3Leaning together
4Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
5Our dried voices, when
6We whisper together
7Are quiet and meaningless
8As wind in dry grass
9Or rats' feet over broken glass
10In our dry cellar
11Shape without form, shade without colour,
12Paralysed force, gesture without motion;
13Those who have crossed
14With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
15Remember us-if at all-not as lost
16Violent souls, but only
17As the hollow men
18The stuffed men.
II
19Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
20In death's dream kingdom
21These do not appear:
22There, the eyes are
23Sunlight on a broken column
24There, is a tree swinging
25And voices are
26In the wind's singing
27More distant and more solemn
28Than a fading star.
29Let me be no nearer
30In death's dream kingdom
31Let me also wear
32Such deliberate disguises
33Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves
34In a field
35Behaving as the wind behaves
36No nearer-
37Not that final meeting
38In the twilight kingdom
III
39This is the dead land
40This is cactus land
41Here the stone images
42Are raised, here they receive
43The supplication of a dead man's hand
44Under the twinkle of a fading star.
45Is it like this
46In death's other kingdom
47Waking alone
48At the hour when we are
49Trembling with tenderness
50Lips that would kiss
51Form prayers to broken stone.
IV
52The eyes are not here
53There are no eyes here
54In this valley of dying stars
55In this hollow valley
56This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms
57In this last of meeting places
58We grope together
59And avoid speech
60Gathered on this beach of the tumid river
61Sightless, unless
62The eyes reappear
63As the perpetual star
64Multifoliate rose
65Of death's twilight kingdom
66The hope only
67Of empty men.
V
68Here we go round the prickly pear
69Prickly pear prickly pear
70Here we go round the prickly pear
71At five o'clock in the morning.
72Between the idea
73And the reality
74Between the motion
75And the act
76Falls the Shadow
77 For Thine is the Kingdom
78Between the conception
79And the creation
80Between the emotion
81And the response
82Falls the Shadow
83 Life is very long
84Between the desire
85And the spasm
86Between the potency
87And the existence
88Between the essence
89And the descent
90Falls the Shadow
91 For Thine is the Kingdom
92For Thine is
93Life is
94For Thine is the
95This is the way the world ends
96This is the way the world ends
97This is the way the world ends
98Not with a bang but a whimper.
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“The Hollow Men” Summary
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“The Hollow Men” Themes
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Emptiness and Cultural Decay
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Faith and Faithlessness
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Hollow Men”
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Before Line 1
Mistah Kurtz-he dead
A penny for the Old Guy -
Lines 1-4
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! -
Lines 5-10
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 -
Lines 11-12
Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion; -
Lines 13-18
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. -
Lines 19-23
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 -
Lines 24-28
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind's singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star. -
Lines 29-32
Let me be no nearer
In death's dream kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises -
Lines 33-38
Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer-
Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom -
Lines 39-44
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. -
Lines 45-51
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. -
Lines 52-56
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 -
Lines 57-60
In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river -
Lines 61-67
Sightless, unless
The eyes reappear
As the perpetual star
Multifoliate rose
Of death's twilight kingdom
The hope only
Of empty men. -
Lines 68-71
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. -
Lines 72-77
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom -
Lines 78-83
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long -
Lines 84-91
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 -
Lines 92-94
For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the -
Lines 95-98
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.
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“The Hollow Men” Symbols
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Straw
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Wind
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Eyes
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Broken Column
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Rat's Coat
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Crowskin
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Crossed Staves
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Star
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Tumid River
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Multifoliate Rose
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Shadow
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“The Hollow Men” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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End-Stopped Line
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Enjambment
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Caesura
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Alliteration
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Assonance
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Consonance
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Repetition
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Simile
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Metaphor
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Extended Metaphor
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Allusion
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“The Hollow Men” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Mistah Kurtz
- Old Guy
- Headpiece
- Paralysed
- Gesture
- Motion
- Solemn
- Deliberate
- Crowskin
- Staves
- Supplication
- Grope
- Tumid
- Perpetual
- Multifoliate
- Thine
- Conception
- Creation
- Spasm
- Potency
- Existence
- Essence
- Descent
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- See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Hollow Men”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“The Hollow Men” Speaker
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“The Hollow Men” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “The Hollow Men”
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More “The Hollow Men” Resources
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External Resources
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Modernism — A brief article on modernism, from the Norton Anthology of English Literature.
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World War I Timeline — A detailed timeline on World War I, put together by the BBC.
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Who Was Guy Fawkes? — An article about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot from National Geographic.
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T. S. Eliot Reads "The Hollow Men." — Listen to T. S. Eliot recite his own poem aloud.
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Biography of T. S. Eliot — A detailed biography of T. S. Eliot, from Poets.org.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by T. S. Eliot
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