Write briefly on the structure of 'Preludes' by T.S.Eliot.

Preludes can be read as four separate poems and or one poem of 54 lines. The four preludes are written in free verse that goes in and out of organized meter and rhyme. The first two lines are written in iambic tetrameter, with four emphasized syllables. The short third line interrupts the rhythm with three syllables. This form of establishing an eight-syllable iambic line and then disrupting it occurs repeatedly in the remainder of the poem. It suggests that life in a modern city is both ordered and fragmented. There is also an irregular rhyme structure, tying together images with words like “wraps”/“scraps,” “stamps”/“lamps” and “shutters”/“gutters.” The second prelude is the most regular, with an abcadefdef rhyme structure. Phrases that start with “And” create the feeling of an accumulation of loosely connected images. The third prelude is one sentence, that contains a sequence of parallel clauses beginning with “you” and “and.” This emphasizes the theme of monotony. The fourth prelude is the most irregular. The soul moves through it as a subject both “stretched tight across the skies” and “trampled by insistent feet.” This is disrupted by the synecdoches beginning with “And.” The second stanza has a regular meter and rhymes “cling” with “thing”—it expresses a religious harmony. The final stanza disturbs with its lack of musicality and abruptness.