TS Eliot Poems – My poetic side

Born Thomas Stearns Eliot, the person we know now as T. S. Eliot was an American turned naturalized British citizen. He was both poet and playwright, and he offered sound literary criticism to his contemporaries. He was also a respected publisher, which rounded out his full understanding of the 20th century literary world.

eliot was born in the usa. s., having lived first in new england, and then – in st. louis, missouri. he was born with some health conditions that prevented him from participating in many of the things that other children his age would have participated in. Instead, Eliot developed a great appreciation for literature. He began writing poetry at fourteen, but he was disappointed with the results. A few years later, however, Eliot was published in The Harvard Lawyer. he also wrote three short stories that year. one of the most significant events in his life at that time was his attendance at st. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. During that visit, he spent some time in an exhibit showing typical Philippine village life among the Igorot people. this is likely to have influenced eliot’s decision to include studies in anthropology while he was a philosophy student at harvard .

after attending harvard, eliot found himself in paris, oxford, and eventually london. She taught at various schools during her time in London and soon married Vivienne Haigh-Wood from Cambridgeshire. the marriage ended some years later, and at age 68 he married esmé valerie fletcher, who was nearly 40 years his junior. Eliot died in 1965 and his wife, Valerie, died a few months ago at her London home.

eliot published his first collection of poems in 1917 under the title prufrock and other observations. Three years later, in 1920, she published poems in the United States; the work was also published in london under the title ara vos prec. However, prior to the publication of these collections, Eliot had written and published a few other works, including The Love Song of J. alfred prufrock, which she wrote when she was in her twenties. some thought it was a bit off-putting in its opening lines, as it portrays the writer lying on a table, like a patient in a hospital.

the love song of j. alfred prufrock (fragment) by t. s. elliot

Another of Eliot’s interesting pieces is Burnt Norton, which he wrote in 1935. In this piece, he tries to describe his walk through a garden, paying attention to all the activities going on around him. here is an excerpt from that lengthy poem.

norton burned (an excerpt) by t. s. elliot

this was one of his four quatrains he wrote in the 1940s. a second, dry salvages, which is quite different and tries to describe water and man’s voyages over it. often refers to krishna, noting that man should be more interested in pursuing the spiritual aspects of life and refrain from pursuing material wealth.

the dry salves (an extract) by t. s. elliot