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How is Eliot's treatment of time summarized in the poem Preludes?

Well, first of all, Eliot is describing the different types of the day as time goes on, i.e. Prelude I is in the evening, at 6'o'clock, before darkness completely takes over light; Prelude II is morning, because everyone is rushing for the "early coffee stands"; Prelude III is late morning to early afternoon and the 4th is back to evening at "four and five ans six o'clock." But as the day goes on, Eliot consistently describes the squalor and degradation and the hollowness of living in the urban city.

the poem preludes is about the meaningless and detiriation of the urban civilisation. this is shown by the negative images throughout the poem.. eg. withered leaves, grimy scraps, broken pots, burnt out ends of smokey days. etc. the poem is broken up into 4 stanzas and they move through different time periods starting in the evening and then moving through a day and finishing the folowing evening. the poem explors many themes. eg. daily rutine, smells of steakes in passage ways means the rutine of cooking tea and rutine is also shown through the rush to the coffee stands. preludes has many daifferent meanings and can be interpreted in many ways, depending on the reader. but it is a truely great poem!