The Hollow Men Resources

The Poetry Foundation presents a long and useful biography of Eliot, and a selection of some of his lesser-known poems.

One of the best things about this page devoted to Eliot is the link to the complete version of his most famous poem, The Waste Land, and his famous and controversial article titled "Tradition and the Individual Talent."

The director Francis Ford Coppola pulls off a neat stunt in his film Apocalypse Now. Both the film and Eliot's poem are inspired by Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, so Coppola has the character of Col. Kurtz (played by Marlon Brando) read "The Hollow Men" – that is, except for the epigraphs that announce the death of Kurtz.

An audio recording of "The Hollow Men," plus some background music.

A painting of lean-looking men in business suits inspired by Eliot's "The Hollow Men."

An illustration for Canto III of Dante's Inferno shows the souls waiting to be ferried across the Acheron by Charon.

The Hollow Men dance around this desert cactus at the end of the poem. We think the plant is actually quite striking and beautiful.

A photograph of Eliot without his trademark glasses and cane.

The classic novel about British colonialism and moral emptiness inspired Eliot.

A digital edition of Dante's Comedy. Check out Canto 3 of the Inferno for parallels with "The Hollow Men."

A monster of a film, Coppola's tale of Americans in the Vietnam War is loosely based on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Dark, disturbing, fascinating: one of the most important cinematic works of all time.