The Hollow Men: Between the idea / And the reality / Between the motion / And the act / Falls the shadow. For Thine is the Kingdom
-T.S. Eliot, poet (26 Sep 1888-1965)
The next stanza explains that all along, the thing which has kept them from changing their own situation was “the Shadow.” This for is undefined, but it comes “Between the idea / And the reality.” It blocks any intentions for change the men might have. There is no way for their motions to coalesce into actions.
The line “For Thine is the Kingdom” is separated from the rest of the text. This is part of the Lord’s Prayer but is missing the ending, “and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.” Eliot includes this fragment of the prayer to show the good intentions of the men but their inability to do anything to completion.
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