"Preludes" is made up of four poems written by the modernist poet T. S. Eliot between 1908 and 1912, when Eliot was in his early 20s. They were later collected in Eliot's debut Prufrock and Other Observations in 1917. Broadly speaking, "Preludes" is about the drudgery, waste, and isolation of modern urban life. The unnamed city in which the poem is set is a grimy, dingy place, in which people unthinkingly partake in monotonous daily routines.
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The Full Text of “Preludes”
I
1The winter evening settles down
2With smell of steaks in passageways.
3Six o’clock.
4The burnt-out ends of smoky days.
5And now a gusty shower wraps
6The grimy scraps
7Of withered leaves about your feet
8And newspapers from vacant lots;
9The showers beat
10On broken blinds and chimney-pots,
11And at the corner of the street
12A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps.
13And then the lighting of the lamps.
II
14The morning comes to consciousness
15Of faint stale smells of beer
16From the sawdust-trampled street
17With all its muddy feet that press
18To early coffee-stands.
19With the other masquerades
20That time resumes,
21One thinks of all the hands
22That are raising dingy shades
23In a thousand furnished rooms.
III
24You tossed a blanket from the bed,
25You lay upon your back, and waited;
26You dozed, and watched the night revealing
27The thousand sordid images
28Of which your soul was constituted;
29They flickered against the ceiling.
30And when all the world came back
31And the light crept up between the shutters
32And you heard the sparrows in the gutters,
33You had such a vision of the street
34As the street hardly understands;
35Sitting along the bed’s edge, where
36You curled the papers from your hair,
37Or clasped the yellow soles of feet
38In the palms of both soiled hands.
IV
39His soul stretched tight across the skies
40That fade behind a city block,
41Or trampled by insistent feet
42At four and five and six o’clock;
43And short square fingers stuffing pipes,
44And evening newspapers, and eyes
45Assured of certain certainties,
46The conscience of a blackened street
47Impatient to assume the world.
48I am moved by fancies that are curled
49Around these images, and cling:
50The notion of some infinitely gentle
51Infinitely suffering thing.
52Wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh;
53The worlds revolve like ancient women
54Gathering fuel in vacant lots.
The Full Text of “Preludes”
I
1The winter evening settles down
2With smell of steaks in passageways.
3Six o’clock.
4The burnt-out ends of smoky days.
5And now a gusty shower wraps
6The grimy scraps
7Of withered leaves about your feet
8And newspapers from vacant lots;
9The showers beat
10On broken blinds and chimney-pots,
11And at the corner of the street
12A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps.
13And then the lighting of the lamps.
II
14The morning comes to consciousness
15Of faint stale smells of beer
16From the sawdust-trampled street
17With all its muddy feet that press
18To early coffee-stands.
19With the other masquerades
20That time resumes,
21One thinks of all the hands
22That are raising dingy shades
23In a thousand furnished rooms.
III
24You tossed a blanket from the bed,
25You lay upon your back, and waited;
26You dozed, and watched the night revealing
27The thousand sordid images
28Of which your soul was constituted;
29They flickered against the ceiling.
30And when all the world came back
31And the light crept up between the shutters
32And you heard the sparrows in the gutters,
33You had such a vision of the street
34As the street hardly understands;
35Sitting along the bed’s edge, where
36You curled the papers from your hair,
37Or clasped the yellow soles of feet
38In the palms of both soiled hands.
IV
39His soul stretched tight across the skies
40That fade behind a city block,
41Or trampled by insistent feet
42At four and five and six o’clock;
43And short square fingers stuffing pipes,
44And evening newspapers, and eyes
45Assured of certain certainties,
46The conscience of a blackened street
47Impatient to assume the world.
48I am moved by fancies that are curled
49Around these images, and cling:
50The notion of some infinitely gentle
51Infinitely suffering thing.
52Wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh;
53The worlds revolve like ancient women
54Gathering fuel in vacant lots.
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“Preludes” Summary
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“Preludes” Themes
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Alienation and Urban Decay
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The Nature of Time
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Preludes”
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Lines 1-4
The winter evening settles down
With smell of steaks in passageways.
Six o’clock.
The burnt-out ends of smoky days. -
Lines 5-8
And now a gusty shower wraps
The grimy scraps
Of withered leaves about your feet
And newspapers from vacant lots; -
Lines 9-13
The showers beat
On broken blinds and chimney-pots,
And at the corner of the street
A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps.
And then the lighting of the lamps. -
Lines 14-18
The morning comes to consciousness
Of faint stale smells of beer
From the sawdust-trampled street
With all its muddy feet that press
To early coffee-stands. -
Lines 19-23
With the other masquerades
That time resumes,
One thinks of all the hands
That are raising dingy shades
In a thousand furnished rooms. -
Lines 24-29
You tossed a blanket from the bed,
You lay upon your back, and waited;
You dozed, and watched the night revealing
The thousand sordid images
Of which your soul was constituted;
They flickered against the ceiling. -
Lines 30-34
And when all the world came back
And the light crept up between the shutters
And you heard the sparrows in the gutters,
You had such a vision of the street
As the street hardly understands; -
Lines 35-38
Sitting along the bed’s edge, where
You curled the papers from your hair,
Or clasped the yellow soles of feet
In the palms of both soiled hands. -
Lines 39-42
His soul stretched tight across the skies
That fade behind a city block,
Or trampled by insistent feet
At four and five and six o’clock; -
Lines 43-47
And short square fingers stuffing pipes,
And evening newspapers, and eyes
Assured of certain certainties,
The conscience of a blackened street
Impatient to assume the world. -
Lines 48-51
I am moved by fancies that are curled
Around these images, and cling:
The notion of some infinitely gentle
Infinitely suffering thing. -
Lines 52-54
Wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh;
The worlds revolve like ancient women
Gathering fuel in vacant lots.
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“Preludes” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Personification
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Synecdoche
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Alliteration
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Sibilance
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Allusion
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Anaphora
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Metaphor
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Simile
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Assonance
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Enjambment
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Caesura
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“Preludes” 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.
- Burnt-out ends
- Vacant lots
- Consciousness
- Masquerades
- Shades
- Sordid
- Vision
- Soiled
- Insistent
- Assured
- Conscience
- Assume
- Fancies
- Infinitely
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Preludes”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Preludes” Speaker
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“Preludes” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Preludes”
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More “Preludes” Resources
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External Resources
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"Preludes" Read Aloud — Listen to famous Shakespearean actor John Gielgud read "Preludes" aloud.
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Cambridge Companion to T.S. Eliot — Read several essays by leading experts on Eliot, designed to introduce students to his work.
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Lecture on Eliot's Auditory Imagination — Renowned scholar Christopher Ricks lectures on the importance of sound in Eliot's work. He plays a rare recording of Eliot reading "Preludes" at 27.08.
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Biography of T.S. Eliot — Read a short biography of Eliot on Yale University's Modernism Lab, a website dedicated to the study of the early 20th century art movement.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by T. S. Eliot
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