The Hollow Men by T.S. Eliot (read by Tom O'Bedlam)

The Hollow Men was written in 1925
Eliot said the name was a mixture of "The Broken Men" of Rudyard Kipling with "The Hollow Land" of William Morris.
There are strong references to Guy Fawkes, particularly the ending.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holl...
The portrait of T.S. Eliot was by Wyndham Lewis in 1938
The picture is of a Japanese scarecrow, reworked in Paint Shop Pro. Here's the original picture:
tinyurl.com/y9hwp2h

[@faisalhasan5969]

Your voice has an air of experience, of pain , of love , or just another rigmarole of emotions. But whatever it is, it is one of the things that define my life. I have heard and learned from so many poems , all in your warm, expressive, experienced voice, thank you sir, for all that you have done.

[@_devolve]

I absolutely love his voice

[@1RadicalDreamer]

The second "This is the way the world ends" gave me chills.

[@tardiskeeper6]

The voice works particularly well for this poem. Kind of chilling, in a good way

[@talhandaq13]

Perhaps the greatest poem of the 20th century - and beautifully read to make it even more memorable. A 1000 thousand thanks.

[@mkzhero]

This is the way the world ends not with a bang but with a whimper.. Such strong words...

[@MrVerleed]

I very much enjoyed the way you expressed the final stanza.

[@angelrwbf]

Of Eliot and Neruda that I find myself returning to again and again, sometimes several times in a row. Thank you so much for sharing these with us all. It's also nice to now have a name to go with the voice I've grown accustomed to hearing so often. In fact sometimes it is your beautiful rendition of The Waste Land or Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines that helps lull me from my frequent insomnia into slumber. So again, thank you, and best regards, from your fan in Oklahoma.

[@angelrwbf]

Dear Mr Tom O'Bedlam- I believe that I have now listened to each of the fantastic recitations you've so kindly shared with us, many repeatedly, and I felt compelled to thank you for posting them. I found your videos while searching for a recording I had listened to daily during grad school of Eliot reading The Waste Land, and though I still haven't come across that recording, finding yours was an absolute treat. I have greatly enjoyed all of your videos, but I must say it is your recitations

[@VulcanWolf]

Wow... I can't remember how many time I've heard, read or recited this poem, but EVERY time I find it to be both riveting and haunting for lack of better words.

[@oxfordye]

The way you read that last stanza was fabulous.

[@Raiyun166]

The way you did the last three lines...sounded almost defeated and withdrawn. I loved it. sent shivers down my spine :)

[@ericabramson7136]

Think of this poem like a lone satellite with human voices drifting through space with nobody to hear it. "Let me be known era"

[@gooseberryjaml]

Whoever's reading this... I love your voice! I could listen to this poem over and over... It puts me in a sort of trance. I don't think anyone could have captured the tone and meaning of this poem better than you.

[@geoffck6969]

Whenever I'm in the doldrums, when the sun is shining, the laughter of children fills the air, folks are enjoying life, the neighbors bbq'ing, I blacken my windows, find solitude and I listen to this and all becomes well with my world once again. LOL!! But seriously, this is an excellent reading that captures the essence of this literary work in an uncanny fashion. Just excellent!

[@krvillanueva]

the last line of this poem, together with your voice made me feel T.S Eliot's meaning in an amazngly painful, beautiful, honest way. thank you. thank you. thank you

[@garrymoore-eroomyrrag]

Oh my god, the part where the lines were completely cut off in mid-speech... (3:45) "For thine is For Life is For Thine is the" That stanza, I feel, congregates all of the emotion of disparity and somberness displayed by this poem.. it is fragmented, but it that very fragmentation that speaks exactly for what the poem (and the author) is trying to say about life's terminus.

[@pianoshaman2807]

I interpret this poem as a warning against vacillation or indifference to the world. There are people who lived fully and done amazing things, or there are people who committed crimes against humanity. Nonetheless, people who did not live their lives to maximum extent are the hollow men, who are bond by constant hesitation about their capabilities.

[@caltiki7914]

That's a timeless poem

[@JohnCTurbine]

I just wanted to say, this reading is absolutely fantastic. It gives me chills!

[@NicolasCurcioWriter]

Was assigned this poem yesterday- knew you'd have it up on your account. You never cease to please with me your readings. Greatest channel ever.

[@zossimov]

great reading. especially the final lines. i love the variety of interpretations.

[@mrnosaj]

I went to work earlier in the night, and your voice kept repeating in my head. I'm subscribing to you.

[@herodotus53]

SpokenVerse, thank you for this thoughtful and engaging recitation. Your interpretation of the final stanza was particularly arresting.. I have already listened to your Hart Crane videos, and your Eliot readings continue to draw me into the web of the poet's imagination. Please keep at it!

[@gooseberryjaml]

Whoever's reading this... I love your voice! I could listen to this poem over and over... It puts me in a sort of trance. I don't think anyone could have captured the tone and meaning of this poem more than you.

[@Natashahoneypot]

Brought me to weeping tears. Great reading, great work of art.

[@Amothyrie]

Once again, thank you for doing a reading of a poem that I picked to research for class, so I can bring it into class. You do a remarkable job of capturing the mood.

[@JimJWalker]

Who else came here because the T.S. Eliot's spoken version had music was so annoying?

[@Makethemhearragtime]

Kenneth Williams sent me. Through his diaries.

[@superangora]

ive been meaning to look for a good poem to read and let sit in my heart and i fel this is the one true remarkable the raw voice is a really nice touch

[@kontrapunkti]

One of my absolut favorite chanels on KZbin, keep up the good work! Cheers from Finland!

[@2bsbc]

I appreciate the meter you use in your reading of this piece. I especially like your delivery of the last stanza. I never imagined it read it that manner. Powerful.

[@latebloomer4755]

i think its about becoming confined to silence and a world filled with alienation from each other.

[@kenruneck]

This poem is haunting.

[@tshhtf]

This is shockingly beautiful. Thankyou

[@topsone3428]

This version of Tom O'Bedlam reading this poem is so much more emotional than of Eliot's reading. Love this poem so much!

[@whythewar1]

@SpokenVerse This is the first time listening to a poem you read, I actually, swelled up and let a tear.

[@sbracco77]

Once again, a great reading clarifies a poem. Thanks for posting.

[@bummercucumber]

Your reading is the greatest I've heard.

[@astrophonix]

I had imagined the "here we go round the prickly pear" and the last lines should be sung like a nursery rhyme, not spoken, but what a great voice!

[@IskalkaQuest2010]

Love your recitations! You have a gift. Thank you so much for sharing it. Blessings.

[@ndlelantle]

what a nice way to learn for my setwork exam :-D love this poem!!!

[@paripartizan]

your reading makes me shiver and gives me goose bumps! Im sure Eliot is proud of you in death's other kingdom

[@marie-louisenieuwhof8510]

Just subscribed. Love your clear reading. Thank you.

[@kooroshrostami27]

This poem must have inspired Dark Souls series

[@ReApErChilLS79]

@Thinkify1 That 'Prickly pear' line is saying how children will go around the prickly pear, not the mulberry bush. The mulberry bush represents fertility, the prickly pear represents infertility. What this line is saying is how, the children do not want to be born into such a world, filled with war and such. So they go around the prickly pear, not the mulberry bush. It is a reference to the mulberry nursery rhyme. I know this because this year in my 9th grade English class we analyzed this poem.

[@absolutfx]

The experiences of a man who already knew existence was temporary the day he was born.

[@FernandoBalderama]

the last stanza gives me chill to the bones.. for some reason.. >.

[@jdncoke2]

you read wonderfully, thank you for your channel! :)

[@AQWoy]

I'm 13, I never thought I'd be into poetry, until I heard this...

[@steveshaw9329]

Thank you, Tom

[@Atarius]

Haven't regretted subscribing to you once and I don't feel that I ever will.

[@YGriffiny]

Our lecturer put Marlon Brando's recital of this poem on the screen for us yesterday. The best compliment I can give you is that I was disappointed in his failure to perform the last stanza the way you did. Keep up the good work, It really helps.

[@tatianadekun435]

The Illustrations are really suitable. Voice and manner of reading!! great)

[@danbuter]

Fantastic reading of Eliot's "The Hollow Men".

[@Byenia]

Very cool reading of this poem. Thanks for sharing.

[@barakvesh]

Flashing the image of the hollow men again at the end was very effective.

[@tardiskeeper6]

I kept getting that falls in the shadow bit in my head

[@isarte2007]

if you are already dead inside, a physical death completes the end of your world and life... the last line made me think of death by murder = bang vs by illness = whimper.

[@WaddedBliss]

Great poem, great reading. Favourited. Thanks for the u/l.

[@angelrwbf]

rise54321- I thought I'd done a decently extensive study of both of those writers and yet somehow missed that bit of information, I was familiar with Eliot's viewpoint in this regard but not with it's specific relation to Orwell. Thank you for your comment, as I can now seek out and read further into this subject.

[@theNewCruelty]

Outstanding reading. I've enjoyed listening several times now.

[@CIOWhitepapers]

thank you so much!

[@ofelipedbzgt1]

Amazing!

[@Oscar301]

Beautiful reading, thanks. You have a very rich voice - a fine blend of raw knowing and subtly growling despair. Bet you could do a Hamlet soliloquy serious justice...

[@adamm2091]

MGS2 quotes this, so good.

[@HarryBillyBobGeorge]

+Adam Miller And Halo 3. And Babylon 5. And just about everything ever.

[@YouToastToast]

This is fantastic!

[@angelocatania4772]

Speachless.

[@pirateprincess2149]

@slayerdart i find part V with the nursery rhyme weaved within it to give it an entirely eerie air... the last stanza especially

[@adrianpowell3039]

Favorite poem of all time right here.

[@serendipity91000]

Many thanks!

[@giddycadet]

i came here from the axel thesleff version. this is wonderful

[@Razzorzful]

He is absolutely brilliant! Do you know if he has read any others?

[@danielgnfr]

COuld you do a rendition of 'Song' by Allen Ginsberg, I'd love to hear from your voice. Thank you. And thank you for your beautiful channel!

[@thomassimmons1950]

THANK YOU BLESS YOU

[@magencrisis1682]

Amazing poem and reading. Maybe not the most uplifting thing to listen to while quarantined during a pandemic tho

[@johnnymarlin819]

Up there reading as Brando reading it as Kurtz in Apocalypse Now !

[@heyheytaytay]

@2bsbc It's the best part. I lost it. "This is the way the world ends..."

[@bullmoosevx]

Brilliant

[@Pi10sco]

Awesome.

[@nopshere]

Did T.S Elliot recite this himself? If so, the reader is amazing!

[@HobTecCars]

@SpokenVerse Best reading on the KZbin, welldone.

[@lewiszim]

@SpokenVerse there is also a reference to Dante's inferno

[@fattoumabidi6990]

Magic

[@oblivious108]

BEST POEM EVER!

[@carlo88moe]

great reading, really. pronounciation and tempo compliment each word and mood so dearly. i'd like to think of the reading in eliot's head, on its conception, as a very close relative to this version. thankyou, dont stop.

[@gayakah]

does anyone know what is the name of the reciter?

[@kgk4L96]

not much into poetry, but damn that thing is amazing.

[@gayakah]

oh, at first I didn't get that it is you who recites these poems. well, thank you very much for such a great delivery of them.

[@jonaxfred]

so beautiful !!!!

[@TXLuster]

Fucking beautiful

[@Asidian]

This is a fantastic reading of this poem.

[@1984jimmyjet]

Hi Tom, I hope you dont mind but Ive used your reading in my uni animation, its a great reading and I think my animation suits it quite well please check it out I'd love to hear your thoughts perhaps I can animate some more of your readings in future If you don't mind. Thank you.

[@viverridae]

also, eliot is public domain, so it's fair game.

[@CSNA4U]

entrancing /bow

[@serendipity91000]

This is a great reading of the poem. i would like to use it for an art piece I am doing. Can this be arranged?

[@invoiceverse5363]

Marlon Brando in Apocalipse Now. Now you. Just great!

[@2Carny]

haunting poem. This is" about" ww1 right?

[@jbkjbk1999]

Indeed.

[@Stephen-uz8dm]

I think it's about dark souls 3

[@dancedelirium]

you should've been hired in lord of the rings.

[@somor98]

Ummmm, me likes!!!

[@CIOWhitepapers]

thank you so much!