"Hysteria" by t.s. eliot

[JoBelle]

Doubt he was s tickephile, but he could have been. 😛
Joby

"As she laughed I was aware of becoming involved in her laughter and being part of it, until her teeth were only accidental stars with a talent for squad-drill. I was drawn in by short gasps, inhaled at each momentary recovery, lost finally in the dark caverns of her throat, bruised by the ripple of unseen muscles. An elderly waiter with trembling hands was hurriedly spreading a pink and white checked cloth over the rusty green iron table, saying: “If the lady and gentleman wish to take their tea in the garden, if the lady and gentleman wish to take their tea in the garden…” I decided that if the shaking of her breasts could be stopped, some of the fragments of the afternoon might be collected, and I concentrated my attention with careful subtlety to this end."

 

[U.N.Owen]

So why is this woman so hysterical?

 

[Boomtown13]

Nice, Jobelle. Very nice.

Let us go then, you and I.
When the evening is stretched out against the sky,
Like a ticklee shackled and cuffed to a table.

In the room the women come and go
Talking of Ticklebelle Jo.

Do I dare
Disturb this soft pretty foot with my fingers?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

I should have been a pair of hands
Scuttling across the bare skin of ticklish women...

wait a minute, I am.

Good.

Thanks for the post. Anyone who mentions Eliot is supercool in my book. (As though you needed more points in your Supercool Quotient.)

- J. Alfred Boomtown

 

[Boomtown13]

And, Owen, I'm going to venture a guess that the woman in Hysteria is his once and future wife Vivian, who was notorious for her ebullience. T.S., being the stodgy up-tight wanna-be Brit, was captivated by her break-out attitude. She'd laugh in polite company, she'd speak her mind whenever it hit her. She was truly a poet in her own right, and he realized that, was drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

Ultimately, though, he agreed with society that she should be committed. Decided that she was more psychologically disturbed than free-spirited. As much as I admire the guy, and keep his poetry within arm's reach at all times, I feel such disappointment that he did that. Took my opinion of him down a few notches.

I like the notion that he was a tickler, though. Neat image.

So, he's probably talking about Vivian here. That's my guess. But I could be wrong. It could be just another woman in a dress whose perfume makes him digress.

Okay, I was invited to Venice Beach for volleyball this morning. Gotta get over there.

- Boomtown Among the Nightingales

 

[Oddjob0226]

Very impressive, Boomtown! I know so little about T.S. Eliot, but now I'm interested in reading more. And to think that I would learn such things on the TMF!

But then, there's the line from one of my favorite writers, George S. Kaufman.....

Groucho Marx (on the phone): Where can you get ahold of Mrs. Potter? I don't know, she's awfully ticklish!

 

[hiram]

Hysteria

Another radiant gem from the Gulf. Paints quite the picture, does it not? Makes me feel fine just to read it...like I'm right there.

Thanks for posting it.

Hiram

 

[JoBelle]

I've a soft spot in my heart for the biographies of artists. In this case, I've a soft spot for the artist better known as the "wife." Viv was a painter, and could very well have penned many lines in The Wasteland, so the rumor goes.

His decision to commit her would be met with much criticism today. "Prozac and a place on the Rikki Lake Show" would be more fitting. Indeed her exhuberance would be nothing less than a political and social drawback for a man of such "serious" stature.

"Hmph," I say to him.

I'd have been committed to the asylum ten times by now in my relatively short life had I been his mate. I not only would have laughed at the side of the table, I'd likely have kicked off my cashmere slippers and danced on TOP of it! In the RAIN no less! Bring me champagne in a china tea cup, and watch me delight in the poorest of moments. Yes, I pity the loss of Viv.

Mr. Town, LTNS...TickleBelle Jo...reminds me of Annabelle Lee, rhythm wise. Nice words....hands indeed.

Hiram, my dear Upper Midwest friend, you make smile. As usual. 🙂

Joby, in search of daily Hysteria.

 

[Krokus]

Nice

That is some nice readin' 😎

 

[Deleted member 2452]

something disturbing about eliot

i heard something yesterday from a very learned friend.
he told me t.s.eliot was homosexual. now i understand better why he had his wife commited. shame such a fun sounding lady got mixed up with him.
steve