i haven't read much eliot because he too often bores me to tears. the obsession with cats, for instance, which has produced a good number of seemingly simpleton pieces; though they may mean a great deal more than they appear to, the subject doesn't provoke me to spend the time or energy sifting through their mystery. and "the hollowmen" - widely taught throughout the western world, high schools and up, also failed to rope me in. "aunt helen", however, is a lovely little piece of plainly worded, to-the-point(ish) arcana. if any of you eliot fans out there are aware of other eliot poems resembling "helen"s approach, PLEASE post them.