1. T.S. Eliot

2. WEBSTER was much possessed by death And saw the skull beneath the skin; And breastless creatures under ground Leaned backward with a lipless grin. Daffodil bulbs instead of balls Stared from the sockets of the eyes! He knew that thought clings round dead limbs Tightening its lusts and luxuries. John Webster - English Jacobson dramatist Gruesome distinguished work Daffodil: symbolizes new beginning and rebirth “Breastless creatures”-the buried dead

3. Donne, I suppose, was such another Who found no substitute for sense; To seize and clutch and penetrate, Expert beyond experience, He knew the anguish of the marrow The ague of the skeleton; No contact possible to flesh Allayed the fever of the bone. Donne John Donne English poet and priest Obsessed about death Ague Fever without chills Allayed To calm or quiet; alleviate

4. Grishkin is nice: her Russian eye Is underlined for emphasis; Uncorseted, her friendly bust Gives promise of pneumatic bliss. The couched Brazilian jaguar Compels the scampering marmoset With subtle effluence of cat; Grishkin has a maisonette; Grishkin Woman named Serafima Astafieva Russian Ballet Dancer Opened a ballet school Introduced to Eliot by Ezra Pound Pneumatic Bliss Brazilian Jaguar Marmoset Squirrel like Monkeys Cat Sometimes symbolizes guardian of underworld (hell) Maisonette Small House

5. The sleek Brazilian jaguar Does not in its arboreal gloom Distil so rank a feline smell As Grishkin in a drawling-room. And even the Abstract Entities Circumambulate her charm; But our lot crawls between dry ribs To keep our metaphysics warm. Abstract Entities Abstract=Difficult to understand Entities=Ghosts/Spirits Circumambulate To walk/go about/around Metaphysics Philosophy concerned with existence of God and the external world “our lot” meaning our sort of people (people mentioned in poem)

6. T.S. Eliot uses juxtaposition, personification, and visual imagery to convey his idea on how too much desire leads to death in Whispers of Immortality.

7. Written 1920 (at the end of WWI) 1920’s was full of people who lost faith Jacobean (James I of England time period); 17 th century attitude link to sex and death Sign against modern separation

8. 8 stanzas 4 lines each (quartet) Capitalized “WEBSTER” (line 1) End-Stopped at the end of each stanza (exclude 3 & 6) Exclamation point – Important part “Stared from the sockets of the eyes!” (stanza 2, line 6)

9. Allusions Webster Donne Grishkin P.D. James “The Skull Beneath The Skin” Book William Wordsworth Poem imitates “Imitations of Immortality” Mood Dark Juxtaposition Compares desire with death

10. Visual Imagery Stanza 1, 2, 4 Dead Leaned backward with a lipless grin Dead limbs Skeleton, bone Stanza 5 “her Russian eye is underlined for emphasis” Stanza 6 “Couched Brazilian Jaguar” As if lying on a sofa Stanza 7 Drawing room Stanza 8 Abstract entities circumambulate Personification Stanza 2 Daffodil bulbs instead of balls/Stared from the sockets of the eyes. He knew that thought clings round dead limbs Stanza 5 Her friendly bust gives promise of pneumatic bliss. Symbolism Grishkin (Russian dancer) in line 17 represents the desires of man, as Eliot explains her to be pneumatic bliss in line 20. “the breastless creatures underground” in line 4 to represent people in Hell.

11. ABCB Rhyme 8 Syllables per line – Creates rhythm Repetition “Brazilian Jaguar” (stanza 5 & 7) Iambic tetrameter Putting stress on every other syllable starting with the second syllable. Tetra is the prefix because the lines are separated into four sections Alliteration – To emphasize certain images “Daffodil bulbs instead of balls” (stanza 2, line 5) Consonance “s” Stanza 2 “Started from the sockets of the eyes” Lusts and luxuries” Stanza 3 “Donne, I suppose, was such another/Who found no substitute for sense/To seize and clutch and penetrate/Expert beyond experience”

12. In Whispers of Immortality the characters thought of death makes them question their actions and helps them decide whether fulfilling carnal (human) desires is less important than attaining eternal happiness.