20th Century American Literature

By Dominick Bernardi

"Rhapsody on a Windy Night" by T.S. Eliot

It is evident that this poem has been greatly influenced by the hardships and struggles of the average American individual during this time period. These particular hardships that took place during the early 20th Century consisted of diseases, poverty and war. Eliot emphasizes on disease and poverty most literally in this poem, this is visible through the excerpt, “A washed-out smallpox cracks her face.” as well as “You see the border of her dress is torn and stained with sand.”

"The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter" by Ezra PoundThe River Merchant’s Wife: A letter” focuses on the economic hardships of the ordinary American worker and the points at which they had to go to in order to support themselves financially. Most notably, Pound accentuates on the fact that, it was not uncommon for a husband to leave their spouse out of financial desperation. They simply could not provide for themselves and others and had to do what was necessary in order to survive. The poem itself has a very depressing tone as it represents sorrow and agony, especially within the excerpt, “At sixteen you departed, You went into far Ku-to-yen, by the river of swirling eddies, And you have been gone five months. The monkeys make sorrowful noise overhead.”