There is something happening here but you don't know what it is, do you Mr.Schneider?.

An open letter to the cutting Mr. Schneider:

With a modicum of disbelief, I just finished reading Dan Schneider's review of T.S. Eliot's poem: Mr. Eliot's Sunday Morning Service:

http://www.cosmoetica.com/TOP2-DES2.htm

Mr. Schneider,

To say the least and in the vernacular, I don't think that you quite get any of it. Then not everyone has had the benefit of a classical education, and without a guide, this work requires that as a bare minimum. One can only hope that you are not teaching poetry in some high school or college somewhere. It would be a real tragedy, if because of your ill formed opinion, any student missed out on the challenges and enjoyment of T.S. Eliot's work.

This poem is one that has continued to intrigue many learned people over the years, and it is worthy of praise not scorn. Of course, by attacking Mr. Eliot, you, Mr. Schneider may believe that you have put yourself on the same level as this nobel laureate - or indeed above him! In this respect, I know, Mr. Schneider, that you are even more mistaken than in regard to your analysis.

So, the epigram: The point you missed Mr. Schneider is transformation. That is to say that caterpillars become butterflies. Whether or not Mr. Eliot takes the same point of view on religion as Mr. Marlowe, surely, cannot be as pertinent to this piece as this blatant metaphor. Missing this suggests that you read something somewhere about Marlowe. It is a case of not seeing the forest for the trees. Doing a google search or reading an entry in a dictionary or encyclopedia does not always translate into understanding. Even so, in the way this poem appreciates the meaning of the service, it suggests Mr. Eliot does not have any ambiguity regarding religion. Try to see the whole construction - not just the parts.

Many critiques of this poem make the mistake of thinking this epigram is Mr. Eliot taking a poke at jews or the church. Clearly the jews represent anyone who is not baptized and therefore not free of original sin. They have, of course, the power to transform into butterflies. That is, they can be baptized and miraculously transform. Let's not forget after all that this poem was written before Mr. Eliot's conversion to Anglicanism. That is to say, it was written before Mr. Eliot was baptized and became warden of his parish church.

Now, the word "Polyphiloprogenative" has much more meaning than you ascribe to it. First of all, any definition without mentioning love shows a gross lack of understanding. It is the act of creation that is both multiple in its nature and loving.

Polyphiloprogenative is the verb, not the object. It is God.

So, the poem begins with the word "Polyphiloprogenative." And that word is God.

So it is at least a play on the words of the creation story in the Bible: John, Chapter One, Verse One:

Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος

This translates to:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Anyway, just so you won't miss the word play, let me spell it out a bit more. In the beginning of the poem is the word "Polyphiloprogenative" and that word is God.

Get it?

It is not just a flashy, "grabber" start. It is one of the very best flashy starts. It paraphrases John, 1, 1 succinctly and makes a joke at the same time. God is the one who loves to create, as he/she loves what has been created.

Moreover, "" does not refer to the "One" - Christ. It refers to the first word of John 1,1 - the preposition "In" - "Ἐν ἀρχῇ" - "en arche." Remember, the miracle of creation is the theme of this poem. It is what Mr. Eliot is experiencing during this service.

The phrase, "In the beginning" refers to the moment of creation. This is a transcendent, ongoing moment - the now. Superfetation means to conceive while pregnant; so, when referring to the superfetation of the preposition "In," Mr. Elliot refers to the transcendent nature of the time of creation. It is all of time - the ever present NOW! - the ongoing creation - the ongoing coming into being.

As Mr. Eliot's eyes scan the church, he sees the Apostles in the stained glass. These are the knowing servants of God. A look at the Oxford English Dictionary will show "servant" as a standard meaning of "sutler." Sutler is specific, but here, what is important is that they are not slaves. They follow because it benefits them, and they are sapient, wise enough to know it.

Mensual does mean monthly, but it has another meaning as well. It refers to a moment when circumstances are ripe. Here, when the time is ripe, the ongoing superfetative act of creation produce the laconic, neo-platonist Origen an early Christian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished of the early fathers of the Christian Church who interpreted scripture allegorically. He wrote that the soul passes through successive stages of incarnation before eventually reaching God.

Perhaps more to the point, however, is the fact that anyone who reads poetry should not miss the obvious assonance with the word "origin," this suggests effortless, non-male, creation. It is a least a triple instance of more word play.

Mr. Elliot scans the church again. He sees the figures of the Trinity, the elders of the church, the supplicants, the spirits that inhabit the edifice, nature, indeed all the players in creation. Then there, at the baptismal font, there is an infant, both God's and man's creation, and Mr. Eliot compares himself to this helpless infant, as indeed all of us are nearer to this infant's state than to God's.

So then, there, in the end, and for one who has much less reason than many others, Mr. Eliot by raising the status of this infant to master and polymath shows us, his humility - a virtue you should learn to cultivate.

M.

Read the poem:

http://www.bartleby.com/199/23.html