"Let us go then, you and I,
when the evening is laid out across the sky
like a patient etherized upon a table."
So begins one of the finest poems in the English language, full of joy and despair, hope and failure. A magnificent achievement from the beginning of Eliot's career, in which he gives full notice of his genius.
On a side note, there is a brilliant parody of this poem written by Sean Kelly for National Lampoon back in the 1970's called The Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover. Here's part of it:
We'd better go quietly, you and I.
When the evening is smeared against the sky
Like a witness before a House committee;
We'd better tail each other through the streets
The undercover beats
Of stakeout nights and Mafia hotels
And restaurants that front for Mob cartels:
Streets that follow like a DA's argument
Establishing intent
To overwhelm you with a leading question...
Oh, let's go and bust a traitor
We'll pick up the warrants later
The agents call and call again
Talking of Daniel Berrigan
