So much great art and poem are inspired by the concept of time and religion. In one of his famous poems, “East Coker”, T. S. Eliot was most concerned with the place of man in the natural and with the idea of renewal through interpreting the elements of Christianity and the pessimism and vision of destruction during the Second World War. Throughout the poem, Eliot used a consistent repetition, symbolism, and imagery, to reflect that the world is destroying while renewing itself by connecting the poem to his own confessing to this world.
Possibly the most robust literary devices involved with this poem is the vivid imagery which incorporates word choices. The first section of “East Coker” represented a process of houses that are built, restored, destroyed, or replaced; the landscape changes with the succeeding of the generation. By following the author's view, we are able to hear a bit of music "Of the weak pipe and the little drum" (Eliot 205) and to enjoy people "dancing around the fire" at midnight. In between these few verses, you must have noticed “matrimonie”, “Daunsinge” and “commodious” are not spelled right. That’s because the author has actually switched to Old English spellings of certain words to make it seem as though the readers have suddenly traveled back in time, and they are watching the wedding celebration of a man and woman from age. By using these words to place a vivid image in audiences’ heads, the author highlights the subject “time”, hoping to evoke a sense of nostalgia because the author brings us back from the modern life and return to a simple pass which communicates the idea of renewal.
Repetition in this poem is also one of the aspects that Eliot utilized to represent ideas. The author repeated “In my beginning is my end” in the first stanza, second stanza and the end of the poem. Once again, the author uses words “beginning” and “end” to state the idea that all time (like past and future) are one time (like the present) and further emphasizes the importance of the existence of time. In the first and second stanza, the author showed the passing of time by saying that the house was rising and falling, either crumbling or being built up. The landscape changed with succeeding generations; New generations need to learn to expect new things that come out. By repeating "In my beginning is my end", the author highlights how time plays a role in our generations and it leads to the renewal of society.
Once again, Eliot used symbolism to utilize the concept of times which correlates with religion. From reading the poem, we can feel the stresses and anxiety that come with the collapsing world described by the author. But however, the author was also persuading the audience to find the spiritual path under those circumstances. The idea that everything comes to the sickness when we are suffering, "The whole world is our hospital", and if we do well, "we shall die of the absolute paternal care that will not leave us, but prevents us everywhere” (337-341). In this situation, the author described the “hospital” as our church, a place to cure us and remove the sin; and “paternal care” as the essence love that God toward us. This love rejoices with the truth, it always protects, always perseveres and timeless. The author here is telling us, by finding your own spiritual path, you can break the normal procedural and it is the path to find the meaning of life in the turbulent world.
Thus, the author T.S. Eliot wrote the poem East Coker to indicate the role that man plays in the society and the idea of renewal to emphasize that life is unexpected, and we should expect new ideas and thoughts to come out. By using repetition, symbolism, and imagery, the author demonstrated a vivid and logic illustration toward his main idea. Furthermore, he evokes a sense of chaos in the turbulent period of English history by representing the disturbance scenes in the poem.
“A Short Analysis of T. S. Eliot's 'East Coker'.” Interesting Literature, 19 Feb. 2017, interestingliterature.com/2017/02/11/a-short-analysis-of-t-s-eliots-east-coker/.
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