A funtabulous fusion of hilarity and seriousness, Eliot's lines from 'Fourth Caprice in Montparnasse' deserve to stand at the head of "Prufrock and Other Observations" -- an acid comment on what Vincent Sherry calls "[the] underside of urban modernity" in his essay on Imperial Decline in 'Companion to T.S. Eliot' edited by David E. Chinitz, pp.92-93. Here's the link, again:

http://books.google.com/books?id=geNTQe8OMoUC&printsec=frontcover&dq#v=onepage&q&f=false

I'm sure Eliot's lines will be found to have rich repercussions for the discussion at hand. 

Cheers,
 CR
 

--- On Thu, 5/27/10, Chokh Raj <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> // "The dripping plastered houses stand
> Like mendicants without regrets
> For unpaid debts
> Hand in pocket, undecided,
> Indifferent if derided." //
> 
> -'Fourth Caprice in Montparnasse', IMH
> 
> "[the] underside of urban modernity" - Vincent Sherry, 'A
> Companion to T.S. Eliot' edited by David E. Chinitz, pp.
> 92-93
> 
> //a hilarious image//
> 
> CR