“Whispers of Immortality” by T.S. Eliot

This phrase, “pneumatic bliss’ was probably coined by Eliot because it has since been used to refer to a woman’s breasts. VerseSixThe couched Brazilian jaguarCompels the scampering marmosetWith subtle effluence of cat;Grishkin has a maisonnette;In the sixth verse the poet introduces a “Brazilian jaguar,” comparing the cat to Grishkin and to describe how she is going to “scamper” after a “marmoset.” The two are contrasted in their power. The marmoset appears helpless at the paws of the jaguar. She transfers with the “effluence of cat.” In the final linethe poet articulated that Grishkin had a small flat or a “maisonnette.” The obviousemployment of this line after the concentration on sex, suggested that the apartment wasintended for sexual adventures. VerseSevenThe sleek Brazilian jaguarDoes not in its arboreal gloomDistil so rank a feline smellAs Grishkin in a drawing-room.Although Grishkinwas positively compared with the jaguar in the previousverse, in the next one she surpassed it. Both, when they were in their innate homes, whether in a “drawing-room” or in the “arboreal gloom” of the woodland, smeltindividually. Grishkin obviously smelt more favorably, in this case, “rank[er],” than the jaguar did. Its smell was less obvious, more “feline.” VerseEightAnd even the Abstract EntitiesCircumambulate her charm;But our lot crawls between dry ribsTo keep our metaphysics warm.In the eighth verse, the poem ends with a strange yet ingeniousfinish. The poet states that the “Abstract Entities” which is the essence of the world, circled around Grishkin. This metaphysical language relays back to the previousverses in which the poet referred to “pneumonic bliss.” He states that “our lot is doomed to “crawl between dry ribs.” While therewas love, sex, passion, or a of all three together, one is only able to recover “metaphysics,” which is the study of the chief principles of things. These principles may include the concept of essences, as well as time, space and knowledge itself. The truth of life’s proximity to death is all that will eventually matter. Everyone who would follow this path would eventually commit their lives to the moralizing, which he wasinvolved in for all the eight verses.