The Hippopotamus, Redemption and Time
When it came to criticism of the church, T.S. Eliot could be unsparing. He is sarcastic and vicious in The Hippopotamus. The poem uses a simple "abab" rhyming scheme and the final line, with its image of an institution wallowing in eternal stagnation, is memorable.
The HippopotamusThe broad-backed hippopotamus
Rests on his belly in the mud;
Although he seems so firm to us
He is merely flesh and blood.Flesh and blood is weak and frail,
Susceptible to nervous shock;
While the true church can never fail
For it is based upon a rock.The hippo's feeble steps may err
In compassing material ends,
While the True Church need never stir
To gather in its dividends.The 'potamus can never reach
The mango on the mango-tree;
But fruits of pomegranate and peach
Refresh the Church from over sea.At mating time the hippo's voice
Betrays inflexions hoarse and odd,
But every week we hear rejoice
The Church, at being one with God.The hippopotamus's day
Is passed in sleep; at night he hunts;
God works in a mysterious way —
The church can sleep and feed at onceI saw the 'potamus take wing
Ascending from the damp savannas,
And quiring angels round him sing
The praise of God, in loud hosannas.
Blood of the Lamb shall wash him clean
And him shall heavenly arms enfold,
Among the saints he shall be seen
Performing on a harp of gold.He shall be washed as white as snow,
By all martyr'd virgins kist,
While the True Church remains below
Wrapt in old miasmal mist.T. S. Eliot (1888-1965)
In the collection of essays For Lancelot Andrewes (1928), T. S. Eliot famously described his position as that of a classicist in literature, a royalist in politics, and an Anglo-Catholic in religion. Four Quartets (1943), considered by many critics his finest work, sees him using a language rich with paradox to wrestle with the big issues such as redemption and the meaning of time: "Time present and time past / Are both perhaps present in time future, / And time future contained in time past."
