T. S. Eliot (1888–1965)
Autor von Old Possums Katzenbuch
Über den Autor
T. S. Eliot is considered by many to be a literary genius and one of the most influential men of letters during the half-century after World War I. He was born on September 26, 1888, in St. Louis, Missouri. Eliot attended Harvard University, with time abroad pursuing graduate studies at the mehr anzeigen Sorbonne, Marburg, and Oxford. The outbreak of World War I prevented his return to the United States, and, persuaded by Ezra Pound to remain in England, he decided to settle there permanently. He published his influential early criticism, much of it written as occasional pieces for literary periodicals. He developed such doctrines as the "dissociation of sensibility" and the "objective correlative" and elaborated his views on wit and on the relation of tradition to the individual talent. Eliot by this time had left his early, derivative verse far behind and had begun to publish avant-garde poetry (including "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (1915), which exploited fresh rhythms, abrupt juxtapositions, contemporary subject matter, and witty allusion. This period of creativity also resulted in another collection of verse (including "Gerontian") and culminated in The Waste Land, a masterpiece published in 1922 and produced partly during a period of psychological breakdown while married to his wife, Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot. In 1922, Eliot became a director of the Faber & Faber publishing house, and in 1927 he became a British citizen and joined the Church of England. Thereafter, his career underwent a change. With the publication of Ash Wednesday in 1930, his poetry became more overtly Christian. As editor of the influential literary magazine The Criterion, he turned his hand to social as well as literary criticism, with an increasingly conservative orientation. His religious poetry culminated in Four Quartets, published individually from 1936 onward and collectively in 1943. This work is often considered to be his greatest poetic achievement. Eliot also wrote poetry in a much lighter vein, such as Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (1939), a collection that was used during the early 1980s as the basis for the musical, Cats. In addition to his contributions in poetry and criticism, Eliot is the pivotal verse dramatist of this century. He followed the lead of William Butler Yeats in attempting to revive metrical language in the theater. But, unlike Yeats, Eliot wanted a dramatic verse that would be self-effacing, capable of expressing the most prosaic passages in a play, and an insistent, undetected presence capable of elevating itself at a moment's notice. His progression from the pageant The Rock (1934) and Murder in the Cathedral (1935), written for the Canterbury Festival, through The Family Reunion (1939) and The Cocktail Party (1949), a West End hit, was thus a matter of neutralizing obvious poetic effects and bringing prose passages into the flow of verse. Recent critics have seen Eliot as a divided figure, covertly attracted to the very elements (romanticism, personality, heresy) he overtly condemned. His early attacks on romantic poets, for example, often reveal him as a romantic against the grain. The same divisions carry over into his verse, where violence struggles against restraint, emotion against order, and imagination against ironic detachment. This Eliot is more human and more attractive to contemporary taste. During his lifetime, Eliot received many honors and awards, including the Nobel Prize for literature in 1948. (Bowker Author Biography) weniger anzeigen
Bildnachweis: Barry Hyams, Library of Congress
Reihen
Werke von T. S. Eliot
The Waste Land, Prufrock and Other Poems (Dover Thrift Editions) (1998) 1,116 Exemplare, 15 Rezensionen
The Waste Land: A Facsimile & Transcript of the Original Drafts, Including the Annotations of Ezra Pound (1971) 506 Exemplare, 3 Rezensionen
The Use of Poetry and Use of Criticism: Studies in the Relation of Criticism to Poetry in England (Charles Eliot Norton (1973) 280 Exemplare
The Poems of T. S. Eliot: Collected and Uncollected Poems (Volume 1) (2015) 158 Exemplare, 1 Rezension
Was ist ein Klassiker? : Dante, Goethe der Weise. T. S. Eliot. [Dt. von W. E. Süskind, H. H. Schaeder u. Ursula… (1974) 31 Exemplare
Works of T. S. Eliot. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Gerontion, The Waste Land, Portrait of a Lady & more (Mobi… (2010) 19 Exemplare
The Waste Land and other poems 15 Exemplare
Preludes 15 Exemplare
Gedichten, toneel en essays 14 Exemplare
Poems and prose 12 Exemplare
La tierra baldía Cuatro cuartetos y otros poemas : poesía selecta (1909-1942) (1901) 10 Exemplare, 1 Rezension
T.S. Eliot Reads: Four Quartets, the Waste Land, the Hollow Men, and Other of His Poems/Audio Cassettes (The Great… (1992) 9 Exemplare
Let Us Go Then: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (Obvious State Classics Collection) (2019) 8 Exemplare, 1 Rezension
From Poe to Valery 7 Exemplare
Early Poetical Works 6 Exemplare
T. S. Eliot: Collection of Poetry, Poems, and other Works (42 in total) with analysis and historical background… (2013) 6 Exemplare
Letters (5 vols.) 5 Exemplare
The music of poetry; the third W. P. Ker memorial lecture delivered in the University of Glasgow, 24th February 1942 (1942) 4 Exemplare
Poèmes : 1910-1930 4 Exemplare
Utvalgte essays 4 Exemplare
Valik esseid 4 Exemplare
George Herbert. Writers and Their Work No. 152 4 Exemplare
Om poesi : essayer 3 Exemplare
The Waste Land and Other Poems 3 Exemplare
Thoughts after Lambeth 3 Exemplare
Poetry by T.S. Eliot 3 Exemplare
Selected poems 1909-1935 3 Exemplare
Teatro 3 Exemplare
Vad är en klassiker? och andra essayer 3 Exemplare
T. S. Eliot : British Poets Of Our Time 3 Exemplare
The cantos of Ezra Pound : some testimonies 2 Exemplare
Poesías completas. Volumen I: Poesía, 1909-1962 (Visor de Poesía Maior) (Spanish Edition) (2017) 2 Exemplare
Ensaios 2 Exemplare
1971 COMPLETE POEMS & PLAYS OF T.S. ELIOT CATS WASTELAND COCKTAIL PARTY WITH DJ [Hardcover] T.S. ELIOT 2 Exemplare
Ausgewählte Essays 1917-1947 2 Exemplare
Antologia Poética 2 Exemplare
"Ulysses, Order, and Myth" 2 Exemplare
Edebiyat üzerine düşünceler 2 Exemplare
Il sermone del fuoco 2 Exemplare
Poetry by T.S. Eliot: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, the Waste Land, Four Quartetes, the Love Song of J. Alfred… (2010) 2 Exemplare
Three modern poets : selections from Gerard Manly Hopkins, William Butler Yeats, Thomas Stearns Eliot 2 Exemplare
Essays 2 (Literaturkritik) [= T.S. Eliot, Werke II; zugleich: suhrkamp taschenbuch (st), Band 1562] 2 Exemplare
T. S. Eliot (Arco Literary Critiques) 2 Exemplare
Ausgewählte Gedichte [engl.-dt.] 2 Exemplare
Rare Antique Film Murder In The Cathedral T.S. Eliot Play 1st Edition First Print Nobel Prize 1 Exemplar
The Four Quartets 1 Exemplar
Preludes (2nd edition) 1 Exemplar
La terra desolata 1 Exemplar
The Use Of Poetry And The Use Of Criticism 1 Exemplar
The Early Classics of T.S. Eliot 1 Exemplar
The Family Reunion a Play 1 Exemplar
The Sacred Wood (Mint Editions (Nonfiction Narratives: Essays, Speeches and Full-Length Work)) 1 Exemplar
A Terra Desolada 1 Exemplar
Ther Elder Statesman 1 Exemplar
“East Coker” 1 Exemplar
“Tradition and the Individual Talent” 1 Exemplar
“La Figlia Che Piange” 1 Exemplar
O tempo (ir)redimível 1 Exemplar
L'idea di una società cristiana 1 Exemplar
The waste land and other poems 1 Exemplar
Pesmi 1 Exemplar
Válogatott versek 1 Exemplar
Il Paese guasto (La terra desolata) 1 Exemplar
La tierra agostada = The waste land 1 Exemplar
tin house 1 Exemplar
Eliot Thomas Stearns 1 Exemplar
La terra desolata - Quattro quadretti 1 Exemplar
The Criterion. A quarterly review. [Edited by T. S. Eliot.] vol. 1-3. no. 1-12. Oct. 1922-July 1925 1 Exemplar
Religione e letteratura 1 Exemplar
Water 1 Exemplar
Ensaios escolhidos 1 Exemplar
Appunti per una definizione della cultura 1 Exemplar
A essência da poesia 1 Exemplar
Essays Ancient & Modern. 1 Exemplar
T.S. Eliot: The Waste Land and Other Poems 1 Exemplar
"Mr Eliot's Sunday Morning Service" 1 Exemplar
De cocktailparty. Een blijspel 1 Exemplar
T.S. Eliot's 'The Cocktail Party' 1 Exemplar
Collected Poems 19091962 1 Exemplar
A note on the verse of John Milton 1 Exemplar
Poemas 1 Exemplar
Dikter i urval 1 Exemplar
Great Poets of the 20th Century: T.S. Eliot 1 Exemplar
Two poems 1 Exemplar
Words for music 1 Exemplar
Opere... Poesie 1 Exemplar
T. S. Eliot - Poems 1 Exemplar
The Criterion 1 Exemplar
T.S. Eliot: Best 3 Poems (The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Gerontion, and The Waste Land) (2012) 1 Exemplar
T.S. Eliot collection 1 Exemplar
Portrait of a Lady [poem] 1 Exemplar
Sweeney Among the Nightingales [poem] 1 Exemplar
Whispers of Immortality [poem] 1 Exemplar
Gerontion [poem] 1 Exemplar
Cuatro cuartetos: Precedido por La roca y Asesinato en la Catedral (Spanish Edition) (2016) 1 Exemplar
Dryden: A Collection of Critical Essays 1 Exemplar
T.S Eliot the Complete Works 1 Exemplar
The 100 Greatest Books of All Time 1 Exemplar
Old Possum's book of practical cats: Calendar for 1991, with excerpts from the poems (1990) 1 Exemplar
Tre Poesie Di T.S. Eliot. 1 Exemplar
The Naming of Cats [poem] 1 Exemplar
Der Vers. 1 Exemplar
The Letters of T.S. Elliot 1 Exemplar
Verse of John Milton 1 Exemplar
Izabrane pesme 1 Exemplar
The Hippopotamus [poem] 1 Exemplar
The Hollow Man 1 Exemplar
Les Hommes creux 1 Exemplar
Waste Land, The (abridged) 1 Exemplar
The Rock 1 Exemplar
Hamlet and His Problems 1 Exemplar
Poemas 1910-1930 1 Exemplar
A essência da poesia 1 Exemplar
Memoir 1 Exemplar
The undergraduate poems of T. S. Eliot : published while he was at college in The Harvard Advocate 1 Exemplar
Çorak Ülke - Cevap Çapan 1 Exemplar
Denemeler 1 Exemplar
Was ist ein Klassiker? 1 Exemplar
A group of four titles. 1 Exemplar
Growlers Last Stand 1 Exemplar
The Coctail Party 1 Exemplar
Two Poems of Early Youth 1 Exemplar
Poesia de T S ELIOT - TEXTO INTEGRAL 1 Exemplar
The complete prose of T.S. Eliot. Volume 3, Literature, politics, belief, 1927-1929 (2014) 1 Exemplar
Charles Whibely : a memoir 1 Exemplar
The Criterion : quarterly review 1 Exemplar
Stücke 1 Exemplar
T. S. Eliot special issue : including "Scylla and Charybdis", a hitherto unpublished lecture 1 Exemplar
The Complete Poems And Essays 1 Exemplar
Pensees 1 Exemplar
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and Other Works [Squid Ink Classics Edition] (2015) 1 Exemplar, 1 Rezension
Examen crítico de T.S. Eliot "Tierra baldía" 1 Exemplar
SOBRE LA POESIA Y LOS POETAS 1 Exemplar
CATS....Broadway Musical Production (Cats Program Book...1981 , The Cast of Cats...1981 , Cats Playbill... Forrest… (1981) 1 Exemplar
Crime na catedral ; Quatro quartetos 1 Exemplar
ELIOTER KABITA 1 Exemplar
Zugehörige Werke
Awakenings, Zeit des Erwachens, Sonderausg. (1973) — Mitwirkender, einige Ausgaben — 2,501 Exemplare, 25 Rezensionen
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [Norton Critical Edition, 1st ed.] (1884) — Mitwirkender — 1,535 Exemplare, 8 Rezensionen
(The Making of a Poem) By Strand, Mark (Author) paperback on (04 , 2001) (2000) — Mitwirkender — 1,283 Exemplare, 9 Rezensionen
The Best Poems of the English Language: From Chaucer Through Robert Frost (2004) — Mitwirkender — 1,070 Exemplare, 3 Rezensionen
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Mitwirkender, einige Ausgaben — 938 Exemplare, 7 Rezensionen
Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas (2004) — Mitwirkender — 775 Exemplare, 11 Rezensionen
World Poetry: An Anthology of Verse from Antiquity to Our Time (1998) — Mitwirkender — 452 Exemplare, 1 Rezension
American Poetry: The Twentieth Century, Volume One: Henry Adams to Dorothy Parker (2000) — Mitwirkender — 442 Exemplare, 1 Rezension
The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart: A Poetry Anthology (1992) — Mitwirkender — 396 Exemplare, 3 Rezensionen
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [Norton Critical Edition, 2nd ed.] (1977) — Mitwirkender — 296 Exemplare, 4 Rezensionen
The Faber Book of Modern Verse (1936) — Mitwirkender, einige Ausgaben — 292 Exemplare, 2 Rezensionen
The Penguin Book of Contemporary Verse (1950) — Mitwirkender, einige Ausgaben — 268 Exemplare, 3 Rezensionen
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 4th Edition, Volume 2 (1979) — Mitwirkender — 251 Exemplare
The Wheel of Fire: Interpretations of Shakespearian Tragedy (1930) — Einführung, einige Ausgaben — 241 Exemplare, 2 Rezensionen
A Choice of Kipling's Verse made by T. S. Eliot with an essay on Rudyard Kipling (1941) — Herausgeber — 238 Exemplare, 2 Rezensionen
Ben Jonson and the Cavalier Poets [Norton Critical Edition] (1975) — Mitwirkender — 231 Exemplare, 2 Rezensionen
Teaching with Fire: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Teach (2003) — Mitwirkender — 202 Exemplare, 1 Rezension
From Totems to Hip-Hop: A Multicultural Anthology of Poetry Across the Americas 1900-2002 (2002) — Mitwirkender — 174 Exemplare
Vampires, Wine and Roses: Chilling Tales of Immortal Pleasure (1997) — Mitwirkender — 157 Exemplare, 2 Rezensionen
Poetry Speaks Expanded: Hear Poets Read Their Own Work from Tennyson to Plath (2007) — Mitwirkender — 152 Exemplare, 1 Rezension
The Graphic Canon, Vol. 3: From Heart of Darkness to Hemingway to Infinite Jest (2013) — Mitwirkender — 150 Exemplare, 1 Rezension
The Mark Twain Anthology: Great Writers on His Life and Work (2010) — Mitwirkender — 143 Exemplare, 1 Rezension
Playwrights on Playwriting: The Meaning and Making of Modern Drama from Ibsen to Ionesco (1960) — Mitwirkender — 111 Exemplare, 2 Rezensionen
The Shock of Recognition: The Development of Literature in the United States Recorded by the Men Who Made It (1943) — Mitwirkender, einige Ausgaben — 110 Exemplare
Leading From Within: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Lead (2007) — Mitwirkender — 102 Exemplare, 3 Rezensionen
The Sophisticated Cat: A Gathering of Stories, Poems, and Miscellaneous Writings About Cats (1992) — Mitwirkender — 100 Exemplare, 1 Rezension
Permanent Things: Toward the Recovery of a More Human Scale at the End of the Twentieth Century (1995) — Mitwirkender — 90 Exemplare
Ben Jonson's Plays and Masques [Norton Critical Edition, 1st ed.] (1979) — Mitwirkender — 73 Exemplare
The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Concise Edition (2003) — Mitwirkender — 69 Exemplare, 1 Rezension
Nine Great Plays: From Aeschylus to Eliot (Revised Edition) (1956) — Mitwirkender; Mitwirkender — 27 Exemplare
Lapham's Quarterly - The Future: Volume IV, Number 4, Fall 2011 (2011) — Mitwirkender — 24 Exemplare
The question of Henry James: a collection of critical essays (1973) — Mitwirkender, einige Ausgaben — 18 Exemplare
Pause to Wonder: Stories of the Marvelous , Mysterious and Strange (1947) — Mitwirkender — 12 Exemplare
Sunlight on the River: Poems About Paintings, Paintings About Poems (2015) — Mitwirkender — 10 Exemplare, 2 Rezensionen
Seneca: His Tenne Tragedies Translated into English. Edited by Thomas Newton, introduction by T. S. Eliot. (1966) — Einführung, einige Ausgaben — 9 Exemplare
Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection: Cats / Jesus Christ Superstar / Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat / The… (2004) — einige Ausgaben — 8 Exemplare
American poets, an anthology of contemporary verse — Mitwirkender — 4 Exemplare
Poems Of Tennyson With An Introduction By T.S. Eliot (1938) — Einführung, einige Ausgaben — 4 Exemplare
Oskar Kokoschka, Städteportraits : Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst in Wien in Zusammenarbeit mit der Oskar… (1986) — Mitwirkender — 4 Exemplare
Wege zu Vergil (Publius Vergilius Maro). Drei Jahrzehnte Begegnungen in Dichtung u. Wissenschaft (1976) — Mitwirkender — 3 Exemplare
Die englische Literatur in Text und Darstellung: 20. Jahrhundert I (2001) — Mitwirkender — 3 Exemplare
William Shakespeare: Coriolanus [theatre programme] — Mitwirkender — 1 Exemplar
90 Masterpieces You Must Read (Vol.1): Novels, Poetry, Plays, Short Stories, Essays, Psychology & Philosophy (2020) — Mitwirkender — 1 Exemplar
Getagged
Wissenswertes
- Rechtmäßiger Name
- Eliot, Thomas Stearns
- Andere Namen
- Eliot, Tom
Old Possum
Conybeare, Charles Augustus
Grimble, Reverend Charles James
Schwartz, Muriel A.
Spence, J. A. D. (Zeige alle 8)
Trundlett, Helen B.
Krutzch, Gus - Geburtstag
- 1888-09-26
- Todestag
- 1965-01-04
- Begräbnisort
- St. Michael's Church, East Coker, Somerset, England, UK
- Geschlecht
- male
- Nationalität
- USA (birth)
UK (naturalized) - Geburtsort
- St. Louis, Missouri, Verenigde Staten
- Sterbeort
- Kensington, London, England, UK
- Todesursache
- Emphysema
- Wohnorte
- St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Paris, France
London, England, UK - Ausbildung
- Harvard University (BA ∙ Philosophy ∙ 1909)
Harvard University (MA ∙ Philosophy ∙ 1910)
Sorbonne, Paris, France
University of Oxford (Merton College) - Berufe
- poet
literary critic
playwright
publisher
editor
banker (Zeige alle 8)
professor
essayist / reviewer - Beziehungen
- Eliot, Valerie née Fletcher (second wife)
Eliot, William Greenleaf (grandfather)
Eliot, Charlotte (mother)
Pound, Ezra (friend)
Aiken, Conrad (friend)
Russell, Bertrand (friend) (Zeige alle 21)
Yeats, William Butler (friend)
Lewis, Wyndham (friend)
Joyce, James (friend)
Valery, Paul (friend)
Moore, Marianne (friend)
Hayward, John Davy (friend)
Read, Herbert (friend)
Sencourt, Robert (friend)
Trevelyan, Mary (friend)
Zabel, Morton Dauwen (friend)
Betjeman, John (student)
Santayana, George (teacher)
Babbitt, Irving (teacher)
Bergson, Henri (teacher)
Vivienne Eliot née Haigh-Wood - Organisationen
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences (honorary member)
Lloyds Bank (clerk)
The Criterion (founder and editor)
The Egoist (assistant editor)
Poetry magazine (contributor)
Faber and Faber (literary editor) (Zeige alle 26)
Society of King Charles the Martyr
Wesleyan University Press
Classical Association (president)
Virgil Society (president)
Books Across the Sea (president)
Accademia dei Lincei (foreign member)
Bayerische Akademie der Schoenen Kuenste (foreign member)
Athenaeum
Garrick Club
Oxford and Cambridge Club
London Library (president)
High Wycombe Grammar School, London (teacher)
Highgate School, London (teacher)
Harvard University (Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry)
Harvard University (Theodore Spencer Memorial Lecturer)
Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton (resident)
University of Virginia (Page-Barbour Lecturer)
University of Chicago (lecturer)
Library of Congress (lecturer)
Trinity College, Cambridge (Clark Lecturer) - Preise und Auszeichnungen
- Nobelpreis (Literatur, 1948)
Order of Merit
Legion d'Honneur (1951)
Hanseatic Goethe Prize (1955)
Dante Medal (1959)
Commandeur de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1960) (Zeige alle 8)
Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964)
Dial Award (1922)
Mitglieder
Diskussionen
Folio Society -- The Waste Land LE -- Review in Fine Press Forum (Januar 17)
LE: The Wasteland - T.S. Eliot in Folio Society Devotees (Januar 15)
Who is your favorite poet? in Young Fogey's Fire Place (April 2023)
Jeremy Irons reads 'The Naming of Cats' in Cats, books, life is good. (Januar 2016)
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1888-1965
American-born/British Modern Poet
The Well-Educated Mind
T. S. Eliot was an American-born poet-turned British citizen. After graduating Harvard with his doctorate, he moved to London and later become a citizen of England. For a time he was a banker, but writing was his desire; he was influenced by Ezra Pound and dedicated one of his most memorable poems, "Wasteland," to him.
Eliot's poetic style is considered modern or high modern because it is complex and experimental. One description reports high modernism as "aestheticist: formal innovation and detachment from history, society, and politics," and another claimed that high modernists only cared about the aesthetics of the work, not necessarily the purpose or the moral, which is what I was searching for and was left lost. Some critics have referred to it as "elitist and inaccessible," which may also be why I was confused by much of what I read by Eliot.
At times, Eliot's themes contained dismay, despair, indifference from reality; his poems were disjointed and his voices often changed. Even when he was seemingly hopeful, it was questionable. But, to be fair, his times affected his themes, such as Post-WWI and his theological conversion to Anglican faith.
I am not sure I want to read more from T. S. Eliot; however, I own a copy of T. S. Eliot's Collected Poems 1909 - 1962, which I can explore more, if I like.
In the meanwhile, following are the four poems I read of the selected poems from TWEM poetry list, along with a short opinion of my experience.
~
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
I still do not know who J. Alfred Prufrock is or was, but from this poem he is an emotionally awkward individual who cannot relate to other people, particularly women, or reality. He seems to not fit into the modern world. He is aware of his physical flaws. I think this eats away at his confidence.
Nonetheless, he wants to compare himself to literary heroes, like Hamlet. But he is clueless or spineless and does not know how to approach people/women. The best he can do is envision or imagine or fantasize about those relationships, as if women were mermaids.
And then reality wakes him from his dream. It's kind of a waste.
The Waste Land
This long poem was dedicated to Ezra Pound and written in five sections:
1. The Burial of the Dead
2. A Game of Chess
3. The Fire Sermon
4. Death by Water
5. What the Thunder Said
While I found the poem enjoyable to read, I was dumbfounded of its purpose. I did not know if it was supposed to feel disjointed intentionally, because it does.
There are many references to literature, particularly Antiquity, Classical, or Medieval. It helps to have understanding of who's who in literature.
There are extensive allusions to death, loneliness, the emptiness of life and relationships; sex is meaningless, life has no value, and society is broken. It could be a real downer. I almost felt like I was reading something by Virginia Woolf.
Then I did a little probing and learned that Eliot wrote this poem in the aftermath of WWI, and I remember Hemingway had this same somber mood in A Farewell to Arms and The Sun Also Rises. WWI caused people -- particularly young people -- to feel isolated from reality, hopeless, disappointed, and wandering in a broken world.
But in his final section, the poet also made allusions to rebirth, a bit of hopefulness, a way to demonstrate that nihilism is destructive to society -- it is not a way to live or look at life. However, he also made references to different religions, as if to say that any religion works (and is better than nihilism) to bring one to peace and fix society. (I have to disagree about the "any religion" part, but we'll leave it at that.)
I had written so much more about this poem over two days, but I did not save it, and I lost it all when I hit POST. I do not have the energy to try to remember it all. So this is my short version. It is a worthwhile read, but not an uplifting one.
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is a very personal poem covering the spiritual struggles of the poet. I think he converted to Catholicism from another faith or religion. It sometimes reads like a prayer. This is a longer poem with many parts and stanzas in each part.
Part I
The poet begins in hopelessness or despair. He is uncomfortable with his past, but he cannot turn away or turn to God. He knows he cannot change and he desires mercy.
Part II
Here the poet introduces Mary (or what I think is Mary, the Mother of Jesus). His body is eaten in a dream-like situation, which leads to a rebirth.
Part III
The poet struggles with the devil. (Not strangely will you get Dante's Divine Comedy vibes throughout the poem.) He tells the Lord he is not worthy.
Part IV
Like Beatrice, from Dante's Divine Comedy, Mary is with the poet who describes her as having powers to create nature. She is leading him through purgatory.
Part V
Christ is called the Word, and even if the Word is silent it/He is still working in the world. The poet wonders about those who deny Him or do not have the Truth. He asks Mary to pray for them.
Part VI
The poet hopes to never turn back to his hopeless state, but he struggles because it is difficult to keep from temptation. He asks Mary to help him keep from sin and be at peace with God.
That's the bare bones. Again, I think he converted to Catholicism because of his divine ideals about Mary and her abilities and powers in nature and the world. Basically she was given the same powers as Jesus.
In the poem, Eliot refers to her as The Lady, and she is described as wearing blue and white, which I did not know was customary for Mary. And now that I know that, I remember as a child seeing most of Mary's statues in blue and white. Occasionally she was in brown.
The Journey of the Magi
Journey of the Magi was like a reminiscence of the time the wise men went to Bethlehem to find the baby King Jesus. Though specifics are not mentioned, and it is more about the journey, the reader who is familiar with the story of the Magi will know it.
The poem is told from the POV of one of the Magi or someone within the group who went with them. Not sure. The narrator remembered what it was like to travel in the beginning, in the summer, how they seemed to take their time; but toward the end, as it became winter (or colder with snow), they journeyed faster.
The narrator pondered if this experience was about birth (rebirth) or death. It was both. The world had changed after the birth of Christ. And truly, with the birth of Christ (with the entrance of a new religion -- Christianity) the old world had to died and the new world had begun.
I suppose this could also be another reference to the poet's own religious experience from the death of his old life, to the rebirth of his new life after the conversion to the Anglican faith.… (mehr)