The Well-Educated Mind Poetry: T. S. Eliot

 

Selected Poetry by T.S. Eliot

1888-1965

American-born/British Modern Poet

The Well-Educated Mind

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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. 

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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.