Description
As a poet, he transmuted his affinity for the English metaphysical poets of the 17th century (most notably John Donne) and the 19th century French symbolist poets (including Baudelaire and Laforgue) into radical innovations in poetic technique and subject matter. His poems in many respects articulated the disillusionment of a younger post-World-War-I generation with the values and conventions—both literary and social—of the Victorian era.
As a critic also, he had an enormous impact on contemporary literary taste, propounding views that, after his conversion to orthodox Christianity in the late thirties, were increasingly based in social and religious conservatism. His major later poems include Ash Wednesday (1930) and Four Quartets (1943); his books of literary and social criticism include The Sacred Wood (1920), The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism (1933), After Strange Gods (1934), and Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1940). Eliot was also an important playwright, whose verse dramas include Murder in the Cathedral, The Family Reunion, and The Cocktail Party.
The Archive is delighted to present a significant amount of recorded material. 'Journey of the Magi' was written soon after his conversion to Anglicanism in 1927. It is a dramatic monologue of Browningesque ambition and subtlety and is therefore particularly suited to being read aloud. 'Four Quartets', Eliot's moving meditation on time and its relationship to the human condition, draws on his deep knowledge of mysticism and philosophy.
In these extracts from 'East Coker' and 'Little Gidding' can be seen the interweaving of theme and motif which characterises the sequence as a whole and which gives 'Four Quartets' the dense aural patterning of music. The recording of 'The Waste Land' presented here is a particularly exciting find. It dates from 1935, a decade earlier than the well-known and much more widely available 1946 recording. Whilst the sound quality is understandably not so good, the recording is fascinating for Eliot's faster, more energetic rendition. Listening to this urgent interpretation blows the dust of this iconic poem and helps us encounter it afresh.
Details
Publisher - E-Kitap Projesi & Cheapest Books
Author(s) - T. S. Eliot
Paperback
Published Date - April 27 2024
ISBN - 9786256015517
Dimensions - 22.9 x 15.2 x 0.4 cm
Page Count - 68
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