of there true nature. The poem then shifts from this highly descriptive setting of opulence and grandeur to a back street public house. This change disrupts the reader, as the urgent tone and the colloquial language contrast starkly with the melodramatic tone of the previous voice. The barmaid is calling time while exchanging words with a female customer. The incessant 'HURRY UP PLEASE, ITS TIME', shows the barmaids unsympathetic and detached nature, which is heightened by her suggestive remarks towards the female customer. What we learn from this conversation is that man is unfaithful and unable to commit. Nothing of what is said here can be described as beautiful, nor is the way it is said. This is truly a vivid moment of horror, although, amid this horror, you can sense a suffering between women 'Goodnight, ladies, Goodnight, sweet ladies'… In part three, 'The Fire Sermon', Eliot dramatically moves away from the previous images to that of the river. The juxtaposed images are representative of the river past, present and future. The river, normally a rich source of life, has now become stagnant and lifeless. From these images we can sense that the spiritual life of the river has gone and the allusion to the mythical reinforce this, 'The nymphs are departed'… The return to the classical image or the river is reminiscent of a romantic and hopeful time when the river was full of life. The lyrical beauty of the plea 'Sweet Thames', echoes the agony of mankind and the disenchantment of modern living, with the hope of returning to ancient times. We are then brought back to reality with the urban images of slimy rats crawling through the vegetation. These images are suggestive of the trenches in wartime, and the images that spring to mind are that of bones and rats eating the dead bodies, which are extremely vivid and harrowing. This image of wartime is reinforced by the reference to Mrs Porter and her daught...
